Water's Edge
by slyferine
Summary: Nagisa is Naruto's younger twin who is opposite of him in many things. She has always wondered if human's stupidity can be cured, because apparently, they have to be blind if they said her nii-san is a demon. Not to mention a certain homicidal Mizukage -who isn't really homicidal- she unknowingly saved. There's only so much she could take.
1. Prologue

Hello everyone, I'm slyferine. This is actually the very first time I'm posting a story here. This story is actually a challenge that my cousins and I devised. Since Naruto story is finished, we decided to make it into our next topic. Unfortunately or fortunately, I drew a short lot and I got a character who only spoke for a few minutes. Well, that's actually the fun in challenges right?

Since English is not my first language, I hope you don't mind pointing out any mistake I managed to make. I really don't know what I am writing as well, so please be patient with me.

I ended up completely changing the whole prologue after all. I appreciated your comments regarding my mistakes. But I was hoping that you can give me some pointers as well.

Without further rambling.

Disclaimer : Naruto and all its characters do not belong to me, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own my OC, Uzumaki Nagisa.

**Prologue**

Humans were ridiculous. That much she could see. Wherever she went, wherever she laid her gaze on, they always stared back at her with contempt, some fear and some she couldn't even begin to interpret. Was it anger? Hate? Pain? Sorrow?

"Look, it's that girl again. Where do you think that brother of hers is?"

"Who the hell cares about those demon twins?"

"Don't use that words! You know what Hokage-sama will do to those who broke the law!"

"But isn't the boy the one which-"

"Shhh! Don't say anything anymore! Let's just go."

It made her wonder sometimes, if she was even human anymore since she thought of herself as a separate entity from them, or the general human population. What did it make her then? A demon? Ah, but they thought of her brother as one, did they not? They certainly disliked her brother, and to an extent her by association. It was truly ridiculous.

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Sarutobi Hiruzen was tired. He was an old man who was supposed to retire peacefully, leaving responsibilities to the next generation, to a successor –who died-. He was supposed to be at home, spoiling grandchildren, bouncing them on his old knees. But that didn't happen. He was an old man who made mistakes. He thought that it was a good decision to let the village know, to trust the Will of Fire, and they might have viewed the child as a hero. But that didn't happen. They demanded retribution, to a mere child. And soon, by association, the other child suffered the same fate. She was not even the vessel.

Naruto was a bright and cheerful young boy. His love for good pranks certainly lightened up his heavy heart. His energy was boundless and he could never sit still for a moment. He was exactly the perfect replica of his father in term of appearance, with his tanned skin, unruly golden locks that gleamed under the light of the sun and a pair of the brightest cerulean blue orbs. Those eyes were encompassing, almost like the sky itself. His smile alone could brighten up the whole room. Inwardly, the old Hokage was thankful that the village's treatment towards the boy didn't really affect the bundle of sunshine except for occasional bout of loneliness which his twin immediately diffused. But he could still see the trace of longing the boy had in his eyes whenever he gazed upon a family, or a group of children when they played.

Naruto's younger twin was also the exact replica of himself in term of appearance with a few differences. For one, her hair was longer and her bangs laid flatter. Her skin was reminiscence of their mother's, smooth and pale. She also had no visible marks on her cheeks. It was her eyes that were much more different than Naruto's. They were darker in color, a twin pool of sapphire with a hint of glacial blue on the edges. What they held made Hiruzen wary.

Unlike Naruto, Nagisa was a quiet child –too quiet- who chose to remain in the shadow so to speak. Instead of choosing to interact with other children, she preferred to observe. She was reserved, and to an extent, even distant. What terrified the Sandaime more was actually the calculated intelligence he often saw in her eyes. If the girl inherited her father's wit… He didn't want to imagine what kind of thoughts occupied her young mind, what not with the treatment she received. It was difficult to guess what she was feeling or thinking unless you could read her eyes. The occasional dark look that flitted through her sapphire gaze worried him.

He could only hope for the best. He feared that Konoha had made a dangerous enemy. If only Minato or Kushina was here.

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Naruto loved his sister, he truly did. As she was the only family he had in the village. He could always speak to her without being yelled at, and he could always come to her for encouragement. He had no idea why everyone treated them the way they did and why Jiji wouldn't tell him. But he would prove to them that he wasn't what they called him! He would become Hokage one day, believe it! It was his little sister however, who worried him.

Ohh, she was a great little sister! But, sometimes he wondered just what she was thinking because she wouldn't tell him. On some occasion, he could also tell that her smiles were fake. She didn't like to play, or even asked for help or anything. It truly stumped him. He wanted to be a good older brother to Nagisa, but it was difficult if she didn't tell him what was bothering her. When he started his pranking habit though, he sometimes would caught her smiling. It made him all warm and giddy. So, he devised even more pranks just to see her smile. Each sincere smiles or even a giggle were precious marks of success. There was one time he even managed to make her laugh! He was so happy that he immediately hugged her so tightly.

"Nee nee, Nagi-chan?"

"Yes, Naruto-nii?"

His grin widened when he thought of a particularly amusing prank he could pull off for tomorrow. It was time for those stuck up fancy eyed bastards to stop being so stuck up all the time anyway. And of course, he would teach them a lesson for messing with his cute little imouto as well. For all he knew, it might be their fault that her face was set in an emotionless state all the time they were outside! He would coax his sister out of her shell slowly, or even dragged her out if necessary. If his own sister didn't trust him with his problem, how could he become a Hokage?

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So, what do you think? Boring?

Reviews are appreciated.

Thank you. :D


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Nagisa didn't know what to think about her enrollment to the Academy. Honestly, she didn't. She supposed there was the good and the bad. On one hand, she could finally put her mind to use – she was honestly bored, damn it- on the other, she didn't know whether she wanted to bang her head against the table, or just snap and commit mass homicide amongst her classmates.

She wasn't much of a people person, mostly because people tended to shun her – especially the adults – and that attitude tended to bleed down to their children. That, first amongst other things, was what led to her current horrid mood.

Another of the serious problems that plagued her were the other children her age she was stuck with. All of the snot-nosed, angst filled, little brats that surrounded her… Seriously though, what kind of ninja in training starts crying because they tripped over their own two feet?

Academy was out to be a much bigger hassle than she had anticipated. So far they hadn't even taught her anything, she was learning from the books JiJi had given her and the noise…oh Kami, the noise! Screw her incompetent teachers; screw the pointless woes of her fellow peers, it was the noise that drove her closer and closer towards the point where'd she'd happily murder them all with a blunt training Kunai.

Not only were they loud –especially the girls- but they also tended to act like little sheep. All of the stares; all of the dark mutterings and pointing – hadn't someone ever taught them that was rude- had followed them here. Like parent like child it seemed. She was six, just like them and she knew better, even without parents. They had no excuse.

Just look at how dejected Naruto-Nii was getting…it said a lot when even her infinitely happy brother got depressed. Just what had they, or more specifically, her Nii-san, done to gain the undying ire of Konoha? She'd better get her answers soon though, she was losing her patience, damn it! On that note though, how exactly would she kill her classmates? Her kunai was blunt…Maybe she'd go for the throat?

Oh, she might not bear a grudge against the fools that made her life a living hell, but she couldn't help but feel bitter at the unfairness of it all. Knowing Jiji though, he'd pat her on the head – was that supposed to be comforting – before prattling on about how the worthless humans deserved second chances. Oh, wait, she was human. She really needed to stop doing that… What else would she be, a demon? The very idea was laughable.

It didn't stop there though. Her teachers, _oh yes, her teachers! _ They all deserved to be murdered, period - she probably should stop with these kind of thoughts though…Nii-san was giving her strange looks. What kind of adult ignored such blatant bullying though? Apparently Konoha had a lot of these fools… They even ignored her and Nii-san's questions, an act that snagged even Shikamaru's attention – proving how ridiculous everything was. At least Jiji helped sate her thirst for knowledge by answering her questions and providing her with books, she'd probably go insane otherwise.

Now if only physically conditioning her body was so easy… Compared to the others around her, she had an inordinately large amount of natural stamina. But even that paled in comparison to her Nii-san, he never seemed to tire out!

At least her balance was good. The same couldn't be said for her hand-eye coordination though…she probably couldn't hit the side of the academy building even if she stood in front of it. Even Nii-san was a lot better with shurikenjutsu than she was, at least he actually hit the target –that reminded her, she needed to apologize to Shikamaru for that stray kunai. Well, she knew why they blunted them now.

Taijutsu training was a tiring, sordid affair. The teachers were once again ignoring her, leaving her to mimic the students around her and then help her Nii-san afterwards. Ugh… Now she wanted to murder her teachers again. Were they deliberately trying to get her killed?

At least she had a year to get up to par before they started learning about chakra, thank the Shodai.

With a soft, barely audible sigh, Nagisa penned yet another question into her notebooks' ever-growing list – she was on her 4th page already. They wouldn't answer her anyway, so there was no point in asking. She'd just have to ask JiJi next time she saw him. Still, the unfairness rankled her. She still had her kunai on her, but maybe it'd be more fun to get her hands on him and -

"…Nagi-chan? Imouto?"

"Hm?" A forced smile appeared upon her face – a smile that promised pain to the poor fool who had dared interrupt her sweet reveries (can dreams of murder be counted as sweet?). Before her, Naruto stepped back with an audible gulp, shooting their new tentative friend, Shikamaru a frantic look.

"Um… You know, it's lunch time," Naruto said, holding out a bento before him as he attempted to shield himself from his sister's fury.

"Troublesome."

That remark from Shikamaru caused her forced smile to widen into a real one, an act that caused both boys before her to take another step backwards, panicked expressions on their faces. Hmm… Maybe she should try smiling more? It seemed like whenever she did so, people tended to panic. Shouldn't they be happy though, this was her…second, or was it third time smiling this month?

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Naruto was ecstatic when the Hokage, Jiji, said that he would enroll Nagisa and him into the academy. He couldn't stop grinning after hearing that piece of news. His energy seemed to annoy his Imouto though, she devised the most sadistic series of tor- err, he meant _exercises_ he'd ever experienced in an effort to tire him. Despite the annoyance she seemed to radiate, Naruto was fairly certain his Imouto was just as excited as him…err, well, he was certain she was at least _somewhat_ excited, if the upturned corners of her lips were anything to go by.

There were so many children at the academy and they weren't all shooting him nasty looks! Hopefully his attempts at making friends would end better than before. He really was eager to meet new, friendly people. For so long it had just been him and Nagisa, with Jiji dropping by once or twice a month.

It was a lonely, harrowing existence and Nagisa seemed to be taking it much worse than him. While he relished the attention he received from his continuous pranks, his Imouto seemed content to remain in the shadows with her books. Although she seemed content, he'd sometime catch the wistful gazes she shot at their peers or the pain that'd briefly flicker through her eyes when they were refused entry to yet another store.

Sometimes he wondered if her silent love of reading was her way of coping, something similar to his love of pranking people - It had nothing to do with the fact that people were so rude to him, he swore. He wasn't even sure if it was safe to act like that…couldn't someone, you know, explode? Was that why she was so quiet and… distant?

Gah! All this thinking made his head hurt! He was here to become the best ninja in Konoha, not to think! He would just leave that to Nagi-chan, she was the smart one, not him. Besides, it was his duty to defend his sister!

Despite his initial excitement, he found himself slightly disappointed when their first day had finally been over. He'd initially been happy when he and Nagi-chan had been invited to play ninja with a group of other children. Even Nagi-chan looked like she was enjoying herself, her eyes shining, until a group of older children had appeared and forced him and Nagisa out. The light that had been growing within his sister's eyes for the first time in a long time had disappeared quickly, small candles of hope that had blown out quickly in the face of the winds of hatred.

Although he'd been furious at the other children, his anger couldn't hold a candle to his Imouto's. He found himself frozen – along with practically every other child in the vicinity – as he caught sight of his sister's glare. Her blue eyes seemed to have frozen over, her pupils narrowed as she glared at them all and Naruto felt himself trembling slightly as he felt her anger, her urge to lash out at those who had hurt her. And then, as sudden as it had appeared, the spell was broken as Nagisa turned on her heel and stomped off, leaving him to scramble after her.

The bright side of the whole mess was that they formed a new, tentative friendship with two of their classmates: Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji. Shikamaru being the one who had reached out to the twins after their rejection on the playground.

At first, he'd been wary and slightly distrustful of the pair, but the two didn't do anything to further earn his distrust, in fact, the Nara heir was too lazy even for him. Though it would seem his sister had found a friend in the pineapple headed boy. He could often see the two deep in discussion, ignoring their teacher. He wasn't really worried for the pair though, the two were without a doubt the smartest in their class – perhaps the smartest in the academy.

That's why he was grateful she took the time to help him understand each day's lessons after they'd arrived home. And although he felt guilty for taking up so much of her time – he really did try while at the Academy, the lessons were just boring – he was noticing a subtle, but growing difference in his grades. He tried to help her with her Shurikenjutsu in exchange, but her aim stubbornly refused to get any better. Perhaps she would learn if he thought of a different way to teach her? She didn't seem to be learning things the same way as him…

"Naruto-kun, you seem to be in a deep thought. How rare."

A feminine voice jolted him out of his musing, causing his head to snap up to see the masked visage of an ANBU he was _very _familiar with – she was often responsible for hunting him down after his various pranks.

"Neko!" he exclaimed, his eyes narrowing slightly as he caught her cold stare.

"You're not planning to go bother anyone, are you?"

The ANBU's voice was muffled and laced with suspicion as she continued to stare at him, one of her hands resting lightly on the hilt of the sword protruding from her back as she unconsciously prepared for some form of trouble.

Naruto blinked in confusion as he stared at the ANBU, Neko, before him. Trouble? Now that he actively thought about it, he hadn't pranked anyone in quite a while. Between the Academy and Nagisa's extra lessons, he hadn't had the time. Now though… Should he make a detour before going to meet the old man? A wide grin broke through his brooding mien as an idea bloomed in his mind.

"Thanks, Neko! That's a great idea, 'ttebayo!"

With that exclamation, he leapt to his feet and dashed away, a wide grin on his face. Behind him, Neko stood frozen as she watched his retreating form cut a path through the growing crowd

"Did I really just do that?"

Neko mumbled in disbelief, still frozen in front of the academy as one of her charges disappeared. Around her, the mixed crowd of adults and children shot her looks varying between open hostility and awe. It wasn't every day that a member of the ANBU Black Ops could be caught standing around in the open – even more so in a school yard.

"I believe you did, Neko-san. But is it really a good idea to leave Nii-san alone like that?"

The question from newly arrived, younger Uzumaki twin jolted the purple haired officer out of her stupor into action as horror filled her mind. Even at the young age of 6 and a half, the blonde menace known as Uzumaki Naruto could already cause trouble in broad daylight without being caught. How he did so, she had no idea.

"Naruto-kun! Come back here!"

The frantic officer let out a muffled curse following her shout as she formed a hasty seal and disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving behind a confused girl.

Nagisa could only sigh in exasperation as she stared at the now empty space her brother and the ANBU member had occupied moments before. Setting a slow pace, she left the academy and set a course for the center of the village as she tried to decide between the Hokage Tower, heading home or trying to use the Henge-no-jutsu she had been reading about to sneak into the library.

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How exactly did she let this happen?

Nagisa asked herself as she eyed the cup of green tea cradled in her hands suspiciously and the elder male sitting beside her out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't help her suspicion – what kind of person randomly approaches a young girl and hands her a drink? How had he even found her? The Training ground she was resting in was one of the more secluded ones – hidden deep within the village as it was, she'd never seen another person in the area before.

Well, if she had to be fair, the boy wasn't a _complete _stranger, she recognized him, or more accurately, she recognized the symbol emblazoned upon the back of his shirt: a red and white fan. The symbol was one that was known by all of the ninja and ninja-in-training of Konoha, a symbol of one of the village's founders – the symbol of the Uchiha clan.

Now that she was openly staring at him, all of her feigned interest in the now cooling cup of tea she still held in her hands, she realized she _had _seen him before.

With his darkened eyes, black hair drawn up and tied in a low, loose ponytail along with a distinct set of lines under each eye that were common in people who had seen and/or done too much in their lives, he looked like a carbon copy of a face she'd grown used to seeing. An _older _carbon copy she reminded herself.

"I-I apologize if for my bluntness, but _who_ are you?" Nagisa asked, her voice tinged with curiosity and caution. _Damn it! Did I just stutter?_ She couldn't help it – the boy unnerved her.

The boy blinked as he returned her stare, and then he lowered his own cup of tea – he'd been drinking it she noted. Perhaps the drink really wasn't poisoned?

"Ah…my apologies," The boy's voice was low and smooth, with a hint of steel in it – it wasn't a boy's voice like she'd been expecting, it was the voice of a _man_. "My name is Uchiha Itachi, Uzumaki-san. I'm assuming by the recognition in your eyes you're at least an acquaintance of my brother?"

Uchiha Itachi. Yes, she did know of him. Many times she'd heard Sasuke's voice ring out, heavy with pride, as he extoled the virtue of his elder brother. This was weird...Simply being within the same class as his brother was not a valid reason for someone of his supposed renown to seek her out.

"Is there a particular reason you wished to speak with me, Uchiha-san?" Perhaps if she could discern his motives, she'd be able to drink her tea before it went completely cold, it did smell quite heavenly.

"Must one have an ulterior motive in order to speak with you?" His voice was dry as he responded, a hint of amusement in his tone.

He'd refuted her opening jab without actually revealing anything. _Well played._ Several different motives ran through her head as she pondered the enigma before her. She couldn't help herself, after yet another day of boredom, something this interesting, this…odd, was tantalizing. People didn't go out of their way to talk to her – Jiji was an exception.

"Yes. I fail to see why you would approach and attempt to engage me in a conversation without a reason, especially considering who I am related to, and who you are, Uchiha-san." The two had little reason to interact with each other, and they both knew it. She wondered what his response would be.

"Hn." The boy, Itachi, grunted as he gently placed his tea on the ground and held out one hand towards her.

Confusion filled her mind as she watched him, her light eyes locked in a battle of wills with his dark ones. A sense of clarity banished her confusion as he gestured towards her untouched cup of tea, his hand still extended. Carefully, she transferred her cup from her own hand to his and watched with bated breath as he lifted it to his lips and took a sip. Benignly, he held out the cup of tea once more to her, a small smile upon his face as he watched her widened eyes.

"Hn." She grunted, copying his earlier mannerisms as she snatched her tea back and averted her eyes. Okay, so perhaps it _wasn't _poisoned and he _wasn't _trying to kill her – not that her suspicion wasn't justified, she knew that there were people of the village who would leap at the opportunity – but it didn't answer her question of what he was doing here.

She pondered the question as she lifted the cup to her own lips and took a small sip. The lukewarm tea tasted slightly bitter in her mouth, even as she felt rejuvenated. Still, the only people who knew of where she'd be at this time of the day were her Nii-san and old man Hokage…

Nagisa's eyes narrowed as she lowered her tea and openly glared at her companion who returned her gaze with a cool look that gave away nothing. Why would the Hokage have sent Uchiha Itachi to her? She wasn't particularly close to his brother, in fact, she wasn't very close to _anyone _in her age group – her brother excluded from that statement of course. Still, she thought that sending someone who seemed just as anti-social as she was to attempt to interact with her was a tad foolish.

"You are as perceptive as the rumors paint you to be, Uzumaki-san." So, he still didn't confirm his connection to her grandfather. Oh, she knew he'd seen the realization dawn on her face, as much as she'd try to hide it, but he still persisted with his neutral comments – neither confirming nor denying her thoughts.

"It was not my fault for being so anti-social you know. All of the screaming gossiping and crying wears on me." Nagisa sighed as she confessed her reasons, rubbing her forehead wearily.

Even now, the mere thoughts of her inane classmates made her twitch. The girls in her class seemed utterly obsessed with boys and looks. They were six for Kami's sake! They had more important things to focus on, like learning how to throw straight so they didn't kill their comrades! And that didn't even mention the boys in her class – including her brother this time. The majority of them seemed so convinced that they were going to be the next Sannin.

Yeah, she wasn't missing anything, she decided. She even found herself nodding in a silent confirmation of her thoughts.

Besides her, Itachi merely hummed in…was that empathy? Perhaps this endeavor wasn't a complete waste of both of their time after all.

"You really don't need to bother though, Uchiha-san. I'm perfectly fine." Even if this wasn't a complete waste of time, there were other, more important things the Uchiha could be doing – like not bothering her.

"Just call me Itachi, Uzumaki-san. It's not a bother."

She stared at him in bewilderment. Was he serious? They weren't even friends, they were barely acquaintances!

"I am still confused as to why you'd wish to speak with me. Would you mind providing some enlightenment?" Even if he'd extended an offer of friendship, Nagisa was determined to find out his motives. Still, a part of her couldn't deny her small, budding joy at the fact that someone had sought _her _out to talk with, and not vice-versa.

"Don't you think that our village is beautiful, Uzumaki-san?"

Ah, so that was his reason. Her grandfather really _had _sent this boy to confront her. She couldn't help but snort lightly at the thought of her, a six year old, being a threat to the village. Besides, her Nii-san wanted to become Hokage, why would she endanger his dream?

"It's not particularly the village itself . . . Itachi" She settled the empty tea cup in between them, tilting her head up to look at the bright sky. His name felt weird as it rolled past her lips, it had been a long time since she'd called someone by their given name.

"Don't you find the world beautiful? Nature's work, her magnum opus, can be found all around us. And it's all beautiful, Itachi," There was his name again, was she already so comfortable with the boy? "Everything from the forests of Konoha to the mountains of Kumogakure, it's all beautiful. Even the people…"

Her voice trailed off as she became engrossed in her thoughts, her eyes slightly glazed as she stared out at something that wasn't there. This was new for her, she'd never had a chance to voice her thoughts out to someone – nobody had ever wanted to listen before.

"However," her voice sounded so vulnerable to her own ears. She was tired. "Perhaps it's because of that beauty that the world's inhabitants find it in themselves to be so cruel as well, or so I once thought." Nagisa couldn't help herself, her voice wavered slightly as she lifted her hand to dab away the wetness that had formed beneath her eyes.

"Or so you thought?"

Itachi's voice startled her and he turned to stare up at him, meeting his impassive gaze with her own.

"Yes, it's a question I've pondered since I became self-aware. I can't even count how many nights I've lain awake pondering why, _just why_, our world is so cruel. Perhaps it's our intelligence that leads to hate? Or perhaps it's just human nature to find those who cannot defend themselves and make them the foci of their hatred."

She didn't care if he could follow her thought process anymore. She didn't care if he could hear the underlying bitterness in her voice. None of it mattered anymore, because despite herself, her chest felt lighter now that someone, for whatever reason, had finally listened.

"The Villagers really aren't that subtle, are they, Uzumaki-san?" Ah, so she'd finally broken his facade. She could hear the curiosity in the Uchiha scion's voice.

"Perhaps so. But it's not just the villagers, is it?" She noted that her answer caused him to stiffen beside her and she couldn't help but giggle softly.

"Rest assured, Itachi-san, I mean no harm to Konoha nor its inhabitants. How could I harm them anyways? I'm harmless, for now at least. Regardless, returning their blind hatred would be far too low a move for me, I'd just be proving them right . . . It wouldn't make me happy, anyways."

Even as she watched, a myriad of emotions flashed through Itachi's eyes at her words. She was young, yes, and she didn't really know how, but she _understood_. She understood, she understood why they hated her and her brother, and she understood just why their hatred was so stupid. She could tell by the look in Itachi's eyes that he understood as well.

"Considering the position your clan has been in, I'd say you would be capable of understanding me more than most, Itachi."

The widening of his eyes and the astonishment on his face was enough of a confirmation for her suspicions that she let a small smirk momentarily cross her face. A moment later though and his face had once more become the impassive visage she'd grown used to.

"Oh? And what would make you think that, Uzumaki-san?"

"Your reactions confirmed my suspicions, you know?" When he didn't say anything, she decided to elaborate. "Itachi, you'll have to forgive me for being blunt, but… I am not blind, nor am I deaf. I am not a fool as well. Considering the Uchiha's history with the _Kyūbi__ and the prowess of your clan's __dōjutsu__, I think you know __exactly__ what I meant."_

_She couldn't help but smile once more when, for the first time that night, Itachi's façade crumbled. Beside her Itachi held his head wearily and shot her a look that was a cross between amusement and exasperation._

_"You're right." He murmured, letting out a deep sigh._

_"You know, I don't hold anything against you or the other Uchiha, even if the situation I'm in is indirectly your fault."_

_There was a moment of silence between the two before a soft, "Thank you," rang out._

_There was another moment of silence between them before Nagisa chose to speak. "I don't know, Itachi. We'd have to wait for Nii-san to make friends with the Kyūbi before we could have him ask it." The expression of disbelief written plainly across his face forced a smile from her._

_"It was written all over your face."_

_The two lapsed into a comfortable silence once more, each lost deep within their own thoughts before Nagisa decided to break it again._

_"I never said thank you for listening…so…thank you."_

_She had to admit, it was a nice experience. She had never spoken with anyone for this long before besides Shikamaru, and those conversations didn't count, they were always technical. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd come back though. But did she really care whether he did or not? No…she knew that she wanted him to. He was very pleasant to talk to. But she didn't want to admit that she'd enjoyed it. No, she wouldn't admit it, there was no point in opening herself to yet __another__ potential source of pain._

_"You are welcome, Uzumaki__-chan."_

_A true smile – a smile that belayed the warmth blossoming in her chest – broke out across her face as she turned to look at Itachi. She couldn't help herself, she was giddy. He was coming back! He'd understood her like no one else, even if he'd been sent by her grandfather. She couldn't help but feel grateful to the Uchiha, not only had he provided her with a confident and dare she say…friend, but he'd reminded her that despite what the villagers' said, she was still human._

_Her voice rang out even as he was walking away from her, stopping him in his tracks._

_"Please, Itachi, call me Nagisa."_


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer :** **Naruto and its characters do not belong to me.**

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**Chapter 2**

It was all Minato's fault.

Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't know how, but he was certain of this. He thought as he eyed the little blonde who was busy sorting through _his paperwork_ on the couch. It happened roughly half-year ago, when he found the girl reading through his towering paperwork stacking on the floor before sorting it, somehow. So, he allowed her to 'help' him. In truth, he just didn't want to admit just how easier it had become ever since his paperwork was neatly sorted. Her reason was pretty simple as well.

'_Since nii-san will become a Hokage in the future, this is necessary in order to help him.'_

He didn't question anything the next time she asked for the Hokage guideline and rules pertaining to Konoha's government system even though he was supposed to. However, that wasn't the main problem right now.

"Nagisa-chan… Naruto-kun is missing." He repeated, slowly, as if speaking to a small child which he undoubtedly was. His earned respond was a blink and a leveled stare from those sapphire eyes. They were eerily calm, reminiscence from Minato's own. "So?" At her nonchalant response, the ANBU squad in charge of the twins stared incredulously. She was even back to sorting the paperwork as if nothing happened at all. Did they misread her affection to her elder brother?

"'So?' What do you mean by that, Nagisa-chan?" A purple haired ANBU with cat mask parroted uncertainty. Was this a normal reaction? The wizened Hokage reviewed his memory of his deceased successor, trying to place this strange response. "Hm? It means he would be a good shinobi one day. To lose a squad of ANBU escort is a very accomplishing task for a 7 year old."

Utter silence.

"In fact, I challenged him to do this to train his stealth. If you can hide in plain daylight with that bright clothing, I suppose it wouldn't be a problem in the future. It also serves as a good training for the ANBU in capture and retrieve mission. Do you not think so, ojii-chan?"

He was pretty sure that he was talking to a miniature Minato. She raised her head again from her work to stare at the ANBU squad who stiffened at the piercing stare. To a few, it was a very familiar feeling. Hiruzen questioned whether if geniuses were naturally lacking common sense due to their own perceptiveness and different line of thoughts. With how the other 3 he knew turned out to be, it was a possibility.

"I see… Understood, Nagisa-chan. We will find Naruto-kun in a set time limit."

Every pair of eyes swiveled to the direction of the voice, only to find an operative with a weasel mask and dark hair tied into a low ponytail. Hiruzen decided to bang his forehead against his desk, cursing Minato again for whatever this was as Nagisa hummed and nodded her head calmly.

"You have time until before dinner. ANBU Cat will be leading the mock mission. That is all, dismissed."

The elite shinobis turned to look at the Sandaime, who nodded his consent before they shunshin'ed out of the building while in the middle of processing just what had happened. Hiruzen could only shake his head. Perhaps he could enlist her help in assigning missions now as well. It would certainly relieve his old bones. When dealing with geniuses, the only way was to just nod your head and went along with whatever they said. ANBU weasel on the other hand, certainly understood whatever had just happened.

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"…"

Itachi had never seen Uzumaki Nagisa acting so out of character before in the past 3 months they knew each other. He knew she was cautious and sometimes borderline paranoid, except if she was around with the people she trusted. He would like to think that he was one of those few. Because, dare he said, the little girl had somehow gained a place in his heart. It was uncanny, on how this young little girl understood him more than even his own parents. From time to time, he found her level of perceptiveness a gift and a curse at the same time. He disliked the fact that those gaze could make him wanted to say everything, and disliked the fact that she was sometimes even skilled enough to pry it off him forcibly. But, she never judged, she never said anything. Instead, she was just there.

Silent. Listening.

It was… dare he said it, a great relieve to himself and his heavy heart. He found it easier to breath, and his shoulder a bit lighter after sharing a bit of his story to her. In turn, he listened when she said something as well. It was as if he was talking to an equal instead of a younger child. And that often made him forgot that she was just that, a younger child. Which was why he was a bit surprised when she was determined to use him as a shield against his own cousin.

"Shisui," he greeted monotonously with a slight edge and a twitch of his eyebrow when he noticed the shunshin prodigy making ridiculous faces at the girl hiding behind him. So, even Nagisa was afraid of him. Good to know Sasuke wasn't the only one who cried upon meeting him for the first time. –For Nagisa, hiding behind him was already an equivalent of being frightened out of her wits-.

"Aww, Ita-koi~ You knew of the adorable little Hokage-sama's helper?"

Itachi ignored the mumbled response of Nagisa, which suspiciously sounded like _'I don't know there's a mutated Uchiha around'_, and leveled a stare at his wayward older cousin. "Shisui, why are you chasing Nagisa-chan around?"

"_-chan_?" Shisui frowned slightly, glancing in between both him and Nagisa whose clutch on his shirt tightened. "Ita-koi…Are you…the one who corrupted her?"

The accused and presumed victim froze in shock.

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"Naru-nii, if you let your wrist flow with the movement instead of letting it locked in place when throwing the shuriken and kunai, I'm sure that your aim will improve."

Naruto scratched his cheek and stared at her sister, who was busy stretching her muscles in a way he had never seen before. Was it his feeling or her sister had somehow improved in the last months? She had managed to hit the target board instead of Shikamaru anyhow. It had happened almost every single time they were having a throwing lesson even though said pineapple haired boy was napping under the tree at the back of the line. He almost thought that Nagi-chan was doing it purposely instead just to see Shikamaru's amusing and somewhat frightening reaction. Naruto had never seen that crazed look on anyone but Shikamaru when he was tracking Nagi-chan's wayward projectile and readied himself to run everytime it veered off course and heading towards him.

As if catching his thoughts, Nagi-chan straightened. "Itachi-kun had been helping me for a while. Did you do all the stretch? It was the one he taught me, and it was more effective than the academy one."

Itachi? He had never heard of that name before. Could it be a guy from different class, or perhaps a senior?

"He's Uchiha Sasuke's older brother, Naru-nii. A _chūnin."_

Oh, wait… Sasuke-teme's aniki?! But more importantly,

"Nagi-chan, how do you-"

"Naru-nii, you are so obvious."

He decided to just let it go and robotically turned around, trying to wrap his head around it all. At the fact that Sasuke-teme's aniki was helping Nagi-chan, or that Nagi-chan could apparently read minds. He collected all his scattered training weapons and started his routine again. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and committed Nagi-chan's advice into his mind. She had never led him astray before, and frankly, his basic skill sets were improving rather drastically with her training regimen. He ignored the fact that he had one day caught her talking to a very loud adult in green in the wee hour of the morning. Or the fact that that man was shouting really loudly about 'youth' or something. He just hoped, Nagi-chan didn't end up dressing in that green thing.

'At least, I could last a minute in a spar with Sasuke-teme.' Getting one or two hits in was a plus as well. Nagi-chan did mention that getting one hit by him was equivalent to 3 hits due to his strength. That meant he was getting stronger! With a grin, he opened his cerulean orbs, adjusting his stance and throw the five kunais one by one. By the time he finished, his grin was borderline painful.

"Yatta! Nagi-chan! I did it!"

The girl swept a critical look at all the five targets, eyes narrowing slightly before she nodded in acquiescent, a small smile on the corner of her lips. Even though 2 out of the five didn't really hit the center, it was close enough for her. He knew she was a perfectionist and that she would ask him to repeat if the results weren't satisfying. Nagi-chan also didn't like loud noises, so he would always curb his energy and reined them in to divert it to training instead. It was hard. But he had been doing it for two years. He also noticed that she was more…content and happy this past few weeks. Just like Nagi-chan, he would do anything in his power to make her happy. He didn't like seeing her with those looks again.

"Then Naru-nii, continue with the standard taijutsu katas I showed you. Do it 25 times then we can go relieve ojii-chan from his work."

If he wasn't him, he would have groaned at the number. But his determination outshone his laziness, and if it was Nagi, then he was sure that this would benefit him in the long run. So, with a smile and a determined glint in his bright cerulean orbs, he set about doing his work.

"If I think your basic are solid, I will think about chakra exercises next time."

Yeah, he definitely love his sister.

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The first time she was tasked in assigning a few missions to a squad of _chūnin _when her jii-chan was busy signing paperwork, there had been silence, and then incredulous stare followed by inquiries to which the Hokage just waved off casually. It happened for another few times until the routine was broken by a team of freshly graduated genin and their sensei.

"Eh, sensei, what is that demon brat doing there?"

Even Sandaime-sama had turned his attention to Nagisa just to see her reaction. Let's just say, he never thought that a barely 8 year old child would know how to ooze killing intent with a polite, borderline psychopathic smile all the while reciting the mission requests before promptly dumping the dubbed Demon Cat mission to them, leaving a thoroughly amused _Jōnin_ behind. By the time they returned, none of them dared to look at her in the eye anymore. Then, a curious rumor circulated amongst the genin at the next day. It was said that, 'if you value your life, then don't insult the little blonde brat in the Hokage's office.'

Truth was, Hiruzen was a bit disappointed at the villagers. They didn't tell the children anything and didn't break any law, true. But it still happened. The fact that the Uzumaki twins were shunned even amongst their peers. Both Naruto and Nagisa never really told him anything regarding the treatment they received from other children. But when asked, Naruto would divert the conversation or muttered a 'fine' under his breath. Nagisa outright told him that there was no one who earned her interest or saying that the children were idiots. Given her mental prowess and intelligence, that was normal, so he didn't think much of it. He had enough problems as it was. With the obvious glaring truth now though, he could only berate himself for not paying enough attention.

"It's okay, jii-chan. We can handle them. You just focus on those old coots." Was Nagisa's prompt reply without him needing to voice his thought. Was he really that easy to read?

"I suppose humans made mistakes as well. But given on how old and wary you are of this world, it was comprehensible." The implied 'I forgive you' was like soothing balm, almost as if the world stopped resting on his shoulder. If only Minato and Kushina could see their daughter now. A wise old sage born in a child's body indeed.

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Hatake Kakashi was a broken man.

He knew that. He was also a coward.

He had lost a lot in his short life, and the night of the October 10th was honestly the last straw he could take. The loss of the Yondaime Hokage was felt by everyone, but in Kakashi's case, it was even more painful. The last person he had ever loved, his beloved sensei died and left him as well. It was honestly too much. Especially when he had just lost both Obito and Rin. Both, who might be his own fault. And then, there were the _twins._ Oh, the twins… Both so small and vulnerable, so young yet they have lost their two loving parents. Would they ever feel love at all? He knew that many would blame both, regardless of their status and which one was the host. Everyone had lost something that they needed someone to become the scapegoat, to take all the blame. And that someone would be his sensei's legacies.

_-Flashback-_

_Kakashi tightened his hold on the two tiny bundles closer to his chest as he tried to keep himself together in front of the Sandaime, who was staring at him with sorrow filled eyes. "Please, Sandaime-sama. They were all I have left! I beg you, please let me raise them!"_

_It was all for naught though as the Sandaime wouldn't allow it._

_He was too young, it was too risky as well. He was known as Namikaze Minato's only surviving pupil. For him to suddenly care for two golden haired child and blue eyes to boot? Everyone would immediately connect the dot and the two would be in danger. Still, he wanted to care for them, like Minato did for him._

"_No. No, you know that I can't allow that, Kakashi. I am sorry, but you understand it too, don't you?"_

_The Sandaime had said it so gently, with understanding. But it didn't make it less hurtful. Kakashi let his shoulder slumped, his eyes suspiciously glassy as he dropped his gaze at the two children, one who returned his gaze with familiar blue eyes. He felt his breath hitched as he tensed, almost dropping them. He didn't even register the surprised gasp from the Hokage who thought that he would drop the twins, as if he would do that. The babe stared at him for a few seconds longer, quiet and unmoving before falling back asleep._

_Again for the umpteenth time, Kakashi let himself broke apart._

_-End Flashback-_

He had been so surprised when Minato had flashed into his location before promptly handing him his daughter before going back to the battlefield with Naruto in his arms. The younger twin was asleep then, peaceful and quiet. It was as if she didn't care that there was a giant nine tailed fox rampaging outside the barrier. She didn't even get to see her own parents one last time.

When the Sandaime had denied his request, he had thrown himself into missions after missions with suicidal vigour. He was already in ANBU back then and was so desperate to die. It was the only thing that kept him going, to keep the pain at bay for a while. It wasn't good for him to ponder about things. It just made him even more depressed.

He led his weary squad to the Hokage's office, battered from their latest mission and promptly froze in place, breath hitching as he caught a pair of painfully familiar sapphire gaze, assessing and critical. He had even started to see the silhouette of the man who died years ago, with that same gaze and posture. He didn't even realize that he was breathing rapidly nor when Raido and Tenzo called him worriedly.

"Taicho? Taicho, are you okay?"

"Inu-taicho?"

Then, she blinked and looked away. He could feel himself relaxing slightly. No, it wasn't sensei. "Team Ro, reporting back to the Hokage." He sounded alien even to himself. He could only avert his eyes when the Hokage gave him a knowing look.

"Nagisa-chan, why don't you run along and buy yourself some dango?"

The blonde turned her head back to face his squad, eyeing all of them with an unreadable look, causing him to stiffen again. Her eyes landed back on him, and it took him everything not to just shunshin out of here.

"Jii-chan… That person."

If it was possible, he felt himself stiffening even more. He ignored the concerned gaze of his teammates on his back. Sandaime-sama gave the girl a curious look, wondering just what she wanted to say.

"I know him."

_Oh god,no…_ What was she going to say? That she was disappointed in him? She didn't want to ever see him again?

"Oh? How do you know him, Nagisa-chan?" He waited for the verdict patiently, and he was just willing to accept anything she threw at him. He would just accept it.

"That person…" Those blue eyes never left his dark haunted ones, just like that night when she first opened her eyes and stared up at him. "He is the first person I saw seven years ago."

Despite the unbelievable and somewhat dubious explanation, Kakashi understood what she meant, it was there in her eyes, the spark of recognition. He didn't even question on how she could even remember it. He just feel like curling up right there and cry.

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"What do you mean by what you said, Nagisa-chan?" Hiruzen questioned the pensive girl staring blankly at the paper on her white knuckled hand after dismissing Team Ro, drawing her attention to him. What he saw in those eyes were foreign even to him. The tumult of emotions in those eyes weren't supposed to be in those eyes.

"It's exactly as I said. He is the only thing I remembered as a baby. Him. To be honest, I don't know how I knew it was him, but I just do. Even if he covered his face with a mask, or even if he somehow changed his face. Because he was familiar. I don't know how to explain it. But I can feel him, somehow."

Hiruzen had a mounting suspicion on what actually was happening now.

"I have felt him several times though, more often than not in jii-chan's office."

"Can you feel the others as well, Nagisa-chan?" She stared up at him with those eyes again, blank and dull. "Yes… I can."

She was a sensor. Just like Minato. But, that was not really important at the moment. "What's wrong, Nagisa-chan?" He was worried. She wasn't usually this unresponsive or pale, or on the verge of tears. "Why was he hurting, jii-chan?" Her eyes were vulnerable, unlike the usual impassive one, so confused and in pain. As if she could feel- Oh… Oh.

"He lost a lot of person he loved, Nagisa-chan. How would you feel if you lost Naruto?"

The watery eyes were enough answer. For the first time in a long time, Uzumaki Nagisa let herself cry, crying for herself, crying for the man who had lost too much.

* * *

Thank you for those who has followed and favored my story.  
I know I still have a lot to learn, but I hope you will be patient with me.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer : **I don't own Naruto and any of its character

**Chapter 3**

She supposed, all good things must have come to an end. She wasn't really surprised. Why did she expect it to be different? Was it because she had a friend now? Perhaps, it was. Just for a moment, she forgot everything. But eventually, she still had to come across and face them all the same. With her unending patience and silence. What did she expect? She became complacent as of late, it seems. With a sigh, she lifted her head to face her approaching Uchiha companions who were strangely together for a whole week now. The taller of the two were grinning at her like usual, but with her keen observation, she could spot that the grin was less wider than the usual one –and their shoulders were set tensely, almost with a touch of resignation on them- Shisui sported whenever she was around. She also didn't really wanted to know what troubled them. However, her active mind didn't really allow her respite.

Her mien remained stoic even when the two settled themselves in front of her. Like usual. And as she expected, the two experienced shinobi could read her like an open book. The results of them being acquaintances for this long.

"Nagisa-chan, you will lose the usage of your facial muscle if you didn't use it, you know." Shisui was the first to break the echoing silence, running his fingers through his messy slightly curled hair as he released his own sigh. The two stared at her, waiting for her to say anything. In return, she casted her gaze at the blue sky reminiscence of Naruto's own twin cerulean orbs. This had become sort of their routine. The two would wait for her to spill her thoughts, and in return she would play a guessing game as to what troubled them. Of course, they never really told her anything. But the reactions –no matter how small- she gathered were clue enough. As of late, they were getting better at hiding it.

"Something tells me that I will not like what will happened. The feeling of foreboding is very strong." She started, eyes not straying from the comforting sky. It wouldn't go anywhere, it wouldn't leave, unlike people. She had been feeling it for the entire week, the restlessness and twisting of her stomach. What will happen, and to who?

"I swear… You acted more like an old lady rather than a child, Nagisa-chan. Why don't you just leave the worrying to the adults and act like your own age?" The oldest of the three grouched in exasperation. She merely stared at Itachi, who was still a child despite everything and then to Shisui who was most definitely not an adult yet. Sometimes, she wondered just how sick the reality she was born in, where it was normal for children to kill. Did those children even realized what they were getting into before it's too late? She didn't really want to become a shinobi. But there's no way she would let Naruto went alone. Just what did she wish to achieve by doing that? Protecting him? Ridiculous… Was she selfish to desire that little amount of childish naivety to remain? Perhaps, she just didn't want Naruto to end up like her. So bitter and jaded. Forced to mature too fast.

She was tired. Oh so so tired. But with no choice other than to continue on. But she wasn't alone. Unbidden, a small genuine smile made its way to her lips. At least, she wasn't alone.

"Do you think we can visit that small tea shop you told me about, Itachi?" The two older males looked at her, startled. One of them definitely hid it better than the others though. "Aww~ Is Nagisa-chan craving sweets now? Don't worry, Shisui-nii will bring you dango every day!" Nagisa yelped in shock when a pair of strong arms lifted her up and cradled her close to a warm embrace. It was an unexpected move and she was totally unused to it that she stiffened and froze in her captor's arms.

"It will be faster if we do this, Nagisa-chan." The smooth tenor voice she recognized as Shisui's said gently, hand resting on her back as if to sooth her. A warm and foreign feeling coiled within her, and like any child, she fisted her hand onto the material of his shirt before burying her face onto the crook of his neck. He tensed for a moment before relaxing. She was secured in his arms the moment the two males leapt, and she could feel the rushing feeling and the wind against her body.

Shisui was warm. She noted absent-mindedly. Why did she not notice? It was so warm and comfortable that she wasn't sure that she was willing to part with it. As if sensing her thoughts, Shisui's arms tightened around her. He smelt like fresh leaf, with a hint of spicy undertone. She felt clingy today, and Shisui didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed happy to shower her with attention as well. And whatever it was that troubled both Itachi and him had seemingly vanished, even for a moment.

"Why don't you call me Shisui-nii?" Shisui lamented out of nowhere when the three of them were enjoying a cup of tea and dango, her small body perched on his lap. It was admittedly comfortable. But back at the matter at hand, why did she not indeed… Deciding to just abandon all her thoughts for today, she turned her head slightly to face Shisui, giving him a small smile. "Shisui-nii." The ensuing silence and hilarious expression Shisui sported was reward enough, not to mention Itachi's rare chuckle. But it was Shisui's soft smile that really made it worth. For some reason, she felt her chest constricted when she saw his smile. It made her wanted to cry from the painful feeling, something both Itachi and Shisui found alarming as she suddenly sniffled.

In response, she snickered at Shisui's panicky face as he tried to console her with another extra dango while Itachi was a step away from slipping into his mother-hen mode. If only they could stay like this forever.

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It was time to reveal a bit of her thoughts to the worried grandfather. She owed him that much. The old Hokage had spent enough time with her to memorize all her ticks and behavior, discovering just what made him very easy to read sometimes. People tended to underestimate children, something she took full advantage of. Her wide range of vocabulary was results of that. Silent, listening, observing. While Jii-chan would read to her and taught her how to write, Itachi would spent time teaching her more difficult words.

"You wish to know what I am thinking, jii-chan?" she broke the ice, addressing the proverbial elephant as she stared out the window from the office, feeling the thoughtful gaze on her back.

"I will not lie to you and say that I am not worried of your thoughts, Nagisa." Hiruzen started slowly, gauging her reactions carefully while setting his face in a blank state. This time, she would not be able to read him at all. "We both knew that you are very intelligent, and admittedly, I have entertained the thoughts that you are not Nagisa at all." He continued, watching as she turned to regard him with that dark sapphire eyes which was glazed over in deep thought.

"Sometimes I wonder myself, jii-chan. What made me think of many things in my mind." She divulged, leaning against the wall and staring at her feet. "Maybe it started when I realized that I can't trust people anymore." Hiruzen almost reeled back in shock at her casual admittance. Can't trust people?! "And when that thought came to mind, I started to think of a lot of things I shouldn't. Why were we treated differently? Why does it hurt so much that sometimes I wish to die instead? What can I do so I would stop feeling this?" He could feel the sorrow from her in waves, and she was actually acting her age as her form shook and a choked sob broke out from her. He wanted to comfort her, but she stopped him by raising a hand.

"No. I need to tell you this jii-chan. I don't think I can hold on anymore." Her voice cracked at the end as she took a deep calming breath. "You know I like to observe people. It was from this that I actually come across many information I shouldn't have." A bitter smile crossed her face as she regarded the stoic Hokage who was trying hard not to show anything on his face. Such a young girl… Could he even consider her a child anymore? "Almost eight years ago, the _Kyūbi__, _apparently we are the 'demon' brats and the village resentments that seemed to grow on a particular day every year without fails. Jii-chan, do you know, when people are drunk they tend to reveal a lot of things." Hiruzen felt himself froze.

_"__Kyūbi_ is actually a coalescence of chakra. It is not quite a normal summon. And I came to another thought, can you kill chakra?" By now, the Hokage was as pale as a sheet. "And when I came to that thought, all the information just somehow clicked. Especially when I remembered your explanation of storage seal." She was cursing her mind and intelligence by now. Why must she be born with this? "Yondaime-sama is also a seal master, and he died at that day." She raised her head to look at a particular portrait and gave another smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Well, I am working on another particular piece of suspicions. Though, there were no definite proofs, I only assumed. I will not divulge this yet."

"You…" She cut his shocked stupor off by continuing her ramblings.

"I'm very tired, jii-chan. I wish I could just sleep and never wake up. Sometimes, I wonder why I was even born. But when I entertained the thought of leaving, I think of Naruto, and how devastated he will be if I just disappear."

He had no doubt that she was an old soul now. An old weary soul perhaps. No child would be capable of this thoughts. She was very similar to a certain Uchiha that it wasn't even funny. He really had no idea what to say as she stared at the young girl huddled on the floor, knees to her chest as she sobbed quietly.

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The small apartment was silent aside from the soft snore of a certain blonde as he slept away, half-aware of his twin's rumination as she had been in that state since she came back. After several reassurance that she was okay, and most definitely not sick, he relented and left her to her own device. She was grateful for his concern, but this was something she couldn't involve him in. It was difficult to sleep when her thoughts were all over the place. Though, her main concern was regarding her future path. What would she do? Would she join the shinobi force? If she didn't, would Naruto be disappointed?

It was a recommended action by the Sandaime. He was afraid for her if she continued on her course. It wouldn't be a problem if she could endure, right? She was sure she could take that much if she had survived this long. 'Are you sure?' a cynical part of her questioned. No. But was it ever that simple? Of course not. Nagisa casted her dark sapphire orbs to the window, staring at nothing in particular. The night was peaceful, or rather seemed peaceful. Who knew what was happening out there? Her feeling of foreboding was still there as well.

The moon was pretty, she noted absent-mindedly. It was full, and very bright. Like lanterns hanging on the sky, surrounded by specks of smaller lights that were the stars. Though, the silhouette in the middle made it seem like an eye. Wait a minute, silhouette? No, that wasn't a silhouette, it was a person. And that person was heading her way. Before she could consider waking her brother up, running away or anything in particular, the figure landed outside her window, latching onto the wall with chakra-laced feet. It only took mere seconds for her to recognize him.

ANBU uniform, raven hair that framed the face and tied to low ponytail, and that unforgettable crimson gaze with three black wheels swirling around the black pupil. Why?

"Itachi?" Wasn't he on a mission with Shisui? Why was he here? Did something happen? Where was Shisui?

"Nagisa-chan… Will you take care of Konoha for Shisui and I?"

And just like that, he was gone, almost like nothing had happened, leaving her frozen. Was it a genjutsu? It was so sudden, like a mere whisper of wind against tree branches. The feeling of foreboding didn't go away. If anything, it was even worse.

"Shisui… Itachi, please… Please be okay…" She murmured, almost in the verge of tears.

'Don't leave…'


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or any of its characters

**Chapter 4**

Neither Itachi nor Shisui were present for their usual meeting time, which was not uncommon as they were out on missions quite often. But Itachi's appearance several nights ago caused her severe discomfort enough for her to completely zone out in anything. She was insanely worried. There was also an underlying tension in the Sandaime whenever she brought the two names up to conversation the past few days. They were both capable shinobis, each with their own reputation. However, even the greatest could fall. Overall, she felt stressed and ready to snap. She did try to meditate to calm herself, which obviously didn't work. And so finally decided to continue her abandoned calligraphy practice which the Sandaime recommended if she was to dabble in sealing arts.

So here she was, brushing the ink tinted brush against white paper, trying to imitate the old Kage's neat brushstrokes. Compared to his, hers looked like group of worms wiggling together to form a kanji. She was out of practice.

"You need a sure and stable hand, Nagisa. Do not write so slowly or it will be shaky." Jii-chan instructed from his desk as she stared at her work in frustration. "Don't worry. You will be used to it if you practiced regularly until it becomes a habit." Nagisa uttered a soft sigh, placing her brush on the table gently. If only her body cooperated like her brain did. Everything was easier said than done.

"I wonder if this is related to my abysmal aim. My hand to eye coordination is horrible" An amused snort from the working Hokage made her turn in disgruntlement. "That is a serious problem, jii-chan. I can't be a proper shinobi if that problem is not solved."

"Practice, Nagisa-chan." Yea right, practice and practice. Before she took up her brush again, a sudden epiphany struck her mind. How in the world did she not think of it sooner?

"Jii-chan… Can I go to Uzushiogakure?" Or at least, what's left of it. Sandaime seemed so very startled that he choked on his pipe. A good timing in her part.

"Uzushio- Why so sudden Nagisa-chan?" She stared at the old man with a dispassionate stare. "There might be something left there jii-chan. Sealing masters and all that." She hoped there were at the very least. It would greatly help in her study. But… She frowned slightly, breaking the stare. "… Will Konoha take what's left of Uzushio away?" It was a valid concern on her part. No one talked about the Uzumaki Clan anymore, as if they didn't exist.

"Nagisa-chan, what I meant- No… You already knew of Uzumaki Clan, didn't you?" the Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose, looking exasperated. "Nagisa-chan, next time please tell me anything you have discovered before giving me a heart-attack. And what do you mean by Konoha taking what's left away?" His dark brown eyes almost black stared her down inquiringly, making her shifted slightly in sheepish manner. "I'm sorry jii-chan. I meant exactly what I said. If there's something left there and I took it back here… Konoha won't take it away, nee?"

"What makes you think so, Nagisa-chan?" His patient voice made her a bit more comfortable.

"… Well… I… No one would believe me if I said we're from a clan. And if I just showed up having all of that… They will…" –take it away… Was her unfinished sentence. She was insecure, very cautious and not trusting. A good trait for a shinobi, but not for a mere child. Guilt washed over the God of Shinobi. To have her feeling like this in her own home village. He exhaled gently, massaging his cranium.

"No, Nagisa-chan… They will not take it away. Do you really want to go?" He didn't really want to allow her to go, but she had never asked of anything. In fact, this was her only request ever. Would he allow her to go or not, and disappoint her further? He had seen how the two siblings coped, but unlike Naruto, Nagisa was more delicate in sense of her mentality. She might not had shown it, but he knew that unlike her older brother who was stubborn like a bull and determination that outshone many shinobi, she was not. Naruto coped and expelled all of his negativity with numerous pranks and his loud attitude. Nagisa stayed quiet and kept it all locked away. It was dangerous. If she snapped someday… He didn't want to think about it.

He took a look at her hard sapphire eyes and her small clenched fists, and he knew what his decision would be.

"Alright, Nagisa-chan. I will have a team ready to go with you. But-" He made sure to give her a stern stare, crossing his arms in the process. "You will listen to every word they said. If they told you to run, you run. If they told you to hide, you hide. Do you understand, Nagisa?"

"Yes!" Her shining sapphire eyes, brighter than he had ever seen coupled with her sincere smile was reward enough for him.

"But where have you read about Uzumaki clan?" He raised his eyebrow at that.

"Ah, you see… That's…"

And so the tale began with a certain curly haired Uchiha teaching her how to use her chakra and using the _henge-no-jutsu_ to sneak into the library. He made a mental note to reprimand a certain Uchiha later.

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She could only stare blankly at the full ANBU squad the Hokage had assembled in the briefing room with no small amount of incredulity. What in the name of the First was this? She thought it was just a simple escort mission, but this… Wasn't this overboard? She was just one child, a little girl with nothing more than a name on her back.

"Yo, Nagisa-hime!"

She recognized that voice and hair anywhere, even with the mask. And obviously, being the only one she was familiar with in this room other than the Hokage, full with stranger who could kill her with a flick of wrists, she immediately latched on the speaker's hand and hid behind him, staring warily at the three tall figures in front of them.

"Shisui-nii…" She returned the greeting weakly, eyes narrowing as they assessed the stiff silent unmoving sentinels. The Hokage merely smiled at her uncharacteristic move. "Nagisa-chan, I believed you have met them once in my office, and Raven over there of course. Meet Inu, Snake and Boar." He gestured to the silver haired ANBU and his two companions. She stared, and stared some more and she had a feeling that Shisui-nii was amused, causing her to pinch the hand she was holding on to.

"Please refer them by their code names even if you knew of their names, Nagisa-chan. And listen to everything they said." Was the Hokage's final words before retreating from the stifling room with a suspicious smirk on his face.

"…." She couldn't say anything other than stare at the door in incredulity. "… What…" Oh, very eloquent… She scolded herself, palming her face in exasperation. "This is bad… Shisui has rubbed off on me."

"Oi! I resent that, Nagisa-chan!" She ignored the indignant squawk beside her as multitude of snickers erupted from the previously silent sentinels. Well, at least two of them.

"So, Uzushiogakure is it… Tell me Nagisa-chan, why the sudden request? And pray tell, where in the world did you find out about it in the first place?" The corner of her lips twitched as she fell into a thinking pose, with small fingers on her chin. "Hm… Let's see… I remembered a certain _jutsu _someone taught me, and conveniently snuck into the library as a very convincing copy of a certain someone." She could feel the stare of several people boring a hole onto her head. A few seconds later, Raven's sigh was heard.

"'tachi was going to skin me alive."

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Kakashi stared at the small form clinging onto Raven's, or rather Uchiha Shisui's back like a small monkey as they travelled. He had no idea what Sandaime-sama was thinking, allowing her to go out of Land of Fire and very close to the Land of Water, which had unpleasant rumours as of late. Sending them out to escort her made no difference, and he wondered what the Kage would say to the council if they got wind of this. He had taken a large risk, all for one Uzumaki Nagisa. It must have been worth something if the Kage had allowed it. But how much? Did it has something to do with what he was told beforehand?

-Flashback-

"_I don't know how to say this, Kakashi. But it is clear, that there's a high chance that she held nothing but resentment towards the village." He had been kneeling in front of the Hokage's desk as the man stood with half of his back to him, gazing at the village as he said this._

_"The only thing binding her to this place is Naruto. And I don't want to think what will happen if anything happened to him while under the village's care. She's very smart, Kakashi-kun." The unsaid 'and dangerous' was clear. While she was still powerless at this time, with that intelligence she might be very dangerous in the future, an enemy the Hokage didn't want to face. The fact that she was Namikaze Minato's daughter made them reluctant as well. It was not her fault she turned out that way._

-End Flashback-

She looked so comfortable with Shisui, and he wondered if she would be the same with him if he had not been a coward. Would she be as close to him to call him Kakashi-nii? The thought made searing pain shot through his chest with underlying warmth. Would she forgive him?

'_I know him'_

Her words echoed in his mind. Did she really remember him? How? Sure she had stared right at him, but as far as he was aware, baby's eyes could only see blob of colours. Or perhaps, she had meant entirely different thing with that line.

'_She is a very good sensor, Kakashi-kun. Like Minato was.'_

And everything just clicked into place. Oh… In a sense, she imprinted on his chakra signature?

"Mmm… There was something ahead." He halted the team almost immediately at the child's words that carried to him in the wind. A sensor…

"Something, Nagisa-chan?" He observed Raven patiently waited for her answer as she scrunched her forehead in concentration.

"It's very faint." She started, brow arching slightly. Bandits' camp perhaps? Civilian bandits had faint chakra, perhaps with one or two genin drop-outs. She might be very useful in this mission if she could sense enemy before they could.

"How far are they?" Kakashi cut in swiftly, startling her as she directed a wide-eyed sapphire eyes at him. The familiarity almost made him flinch, almost. But he soldiered on. This was a mission, and he had his sensei's daughter life on his hands. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, come heaven or hell. The shock in her eyes wore out as she surveyed their surrounding silently, gaze calculating. "If we continued heading east as we are, I don't know the exact speed we are travelling with, but if my estimation is correct then we would meet them in twenty minutes at the fastest. Um… They were to our left."

He blinked. That was a wide area for a sensor. Did she use chakra to widen her range? But he concentrated on the current matter at hand. To the left mean the signal came from the trading road civilians used to travel on. Were there not any team patrolling here to clean the area? He sighed, decision made. "We would avoid them if possible." There's no need do any fighting now if it could be avoided. His eyes flicked towards Raven, nodding once. If they have to kill, it would not be in front of her if the situation allow it. With that, they continued their fast-paced travel with the silent child in their midst, glancing back at the silver haired ANBU commander every once in a while.

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'Do you want power?' It was a faint call, like mere whisper in the wind. But she heard in nonetheless, only she did as there wasn't a single member of the ANBU squad she was travelling with reacted. They were perched on various branches of the trees in loose circle to rest for the night. She was on Shi- Raven's lap, taut as a bowstring when the voice startled her. Of course they all noticed straightaway, what not with her being their only object of interest.

"Nagisa-chan?"

She fixed her steely gaze at the silent, unmoving surrounding, only slightly disturbed by occasional ruffles from the wind. She was sure that there was nothing there. A small snort was heard somewhere.

"Relax kid, you are not even a ninja yet and you're as paranoid as Taichou here. Sheesh…" The ANBU officer with boar mask muttered, leaning against the bark of the tree he was perched on.

'Who are you?'

'Do you want power?'

"I would say it is justified with my living condition." She muttered bitterly, leaning against Raven to be more comfortable. "Living condition?" Right, of course… They didn't know. She sighed in resignation. She had let her guard down the past week. She was being careless. Did Shisui and Itachi's friendship affect her that much? Apparently yes.

"I was kicked out of the orphanage when I was five, along with Naruto. We have to live on our own for a year and a half before Jii-chan found us. Where do you think we sleep? Or more importantly… Do you think we were really left alone to our own devices just like that? There's a reason why I am good at hiding, Shi- Raven…"

The sudden silence was expected, but the drop in temperature and sudden pressure that terrified her beyond belief were not.

'Killing intent.' Her mind supplied. And it was not directed at her. By _Amaterasu_, these people were angry. At what she said? She wasn't sure. But if they didn't tone it down, she would suffocate. A small whimper escaped from her lips as she clutched onto Raven's arm. "Shisui-nii…"

Like magic, the incredible pressure she felt vanished completely and she was surrounded by warmth almost immediately. "Sorry, Nagisa-hime." Raven murmured softly, stroking her hair with gentle fingers. She shook her head before snuggling deeper into his chest, curling in for a good night sleep, letting his familiar scent and warmth lulled her to darkness. There would be time to think about the mysterious voice later.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer : Naruto and its characters do not belong to me.

**Chapter 5**

Uzushio was a beautiful place. Nevermind the difficulty of getting onto the island itself. The three tiring days of travelling aside, she decided, this place despite its condition was one of her favourites along with Konoha village when she stood on the Hokage monument. She wondered if she could show Itachi this someday.

"So, Nagisa-chan? What do you think?" Raven stretched his arms wide, as if presenting the ruins to her.

The tall buildings that once stood were now in ruins, but she could still see the base shapes of several high rise buildings and she could honestly said that it was more beautiful than Konoha's architectures. There were many tall pillars etched with a familiar emblem, of a swirling circle, the Uzumaki Clan symbol. This was her Clan's homeland. Where her mother was probably born, where the First Hokage's wife was born and raised. The same place where her clansmen's blood was spilled.

She could feel it, the dormant energy in this very place. On the ground and even in the air itself, as if welcoming a long lost child. Like home.

Entranced, Nagisa made her way down the hill they were standing on, barely registering the wary ANBU officers who were following her. Unlike her, they were not feeling that welcomed to this place, where their once proud allies resided, razed to the ground by the combined might of three great villages. The only girl in the group continued her way to the heart of the village where they spotted the remains of a very large structure, eaten away by time. It was here that the dormant energy was the strongest.

Inu took a deep weary breath as their charge went in without looking back. "Nagisa!" He hissed lowly. There was no knowing of what was in there. "I don't think the village will do her harm, Taichou." Hebi whispered back. They were unwilling to speak louder, as if it would disturb the ambience. "Hm… I would say the same. She has Uzumaki blood in her, and if there were anything left, I think she will be the only one who can find it." Raven cut in, darting into the building as well.

The inside of the building was as magnificent as the outside. Seals inscription they have no understanding of lined the pillars, still pulsing weakly despite being left behind for decades. The same spiral symbols were carved on various surfaces. But Nagisa was just standing at the front, where the narrow hallway opened up to a large circular shaped room with a large spiral symbol carved in the middle of the floor with sealing encryption lining every side of it. Nagisa was staring at the floor and sealing matrix attentively, crouching down and running her fingers across the smooth stone surface with a frown while mumbling under her breath lowly.

Inu followed her example wordlessly. He might be able to understand even a little. Being apprenticed under the Yondaime meant you were at least exposed to some fūinjutsu knowledge. The rest of the group stood guard.

"Um…" The small hesitant voice almost startled them, as their commander turned to look at the girl with an air of inquiry around him. "Can I borrow a kunai? I think this is a matrix for blood?" Inu immediately appeared beside Nagisa, startling her to almost falling down as she scowled at him. Kakashi eyed the sealing matrix she had been studying earlier, recognizing a few symbols from Kushina's crash course. Indeed, there was blood requirement to open the seal. But only Uzumaki blood in this case.

"You are correct." Kakashi murmured, absently rummaging his pouch for a kunai before handing it to her, handle first. As if an afterthought, he continued. "But where have you learned that from?" Come to think of it, the sealing matrix requiring blood to unseal or make was not for a beginner.

"I asked jii-chan about the variation of storage scrolls once." Dark sapphire gaze landed on the sharp edge of the polished dark metal that reflected her own distorted reflection. And without a single moment of hesitation, she ran her thumb across the edge to make a small cut, waiting for the blood to well before swiping it on the floor. There was a few seconds of silent anticipation before the whole sealing array came to life, each pulsing with crimson glow.

The floor rumbled and moved, spiraling downwards slowly to reveal a stairwell down to a barely well-lit chamber. Nagisa stared. Wasn't it too easy to just open the seal if all you need was blood? Or perhaps you need something else? Willingness and the person to be alive, perhaps?

"Well, there's that." Boar mumbled, stepping on the steps as if testing its durability. Raven scooped her up and followed after their silver haired companion, with Boar and Snake bringing up the rear as they went down with silent footsteps. There were no other sound other than their breaths, and even those sounded annoyingly loud in their ears.

They travelled down for quite a while before Inu came to a stop where the stairs ended, coming to a stop in a square room with a dead end. Or rather, a wall with another sealing array on its surface. The same pulsing crimson sealing array that looked far more menacing than the first one they encountered upstairs.

"State your name, intruders." A deep authoritative voice interrupted their thoughts as the ANBU operatives drew their ninjato out, surrounding both her and Shisui in a tight circle. "Uzumaki Nagisa."

"Uzumaki, you said…?"

"Uzumaki Nagisa of Konohagakure." Shisui tightened his grip on his charge. "Nagisa-chan… Don't-"

"Konoha? Are you Kushina's…"

"She is." Inu cut in swiftly, shifting his stance slightly.

"Then tell me, where is Uzumaki Kushina?" Nagisa noticed that the voice was slightly disembodied, as if it was there but not at the same time.

"She died, almost 8 years ago." It was silent for a while before a sigh issued from whoever was speaking to them.

"I see… It is, as I feared." A figure stepped out of- no, stepped through the wall in front of them, transparent as if a ghost. "Stand down, Konoha's shinobi." It was a tall man, wearing a high collared white robe with long straight crimson hair that fell down his back, leaving a strand framing each side of his young graceful visage. His bangs which barely reached his eyes were swept to the left. Nagisa couldn't make out the colour of his eyes, but it looked somewhat crimson.

"It's a joy to meet my family once again, even in death. I believe I represent the whole Uzushio in welcoming you back home, granddaughter." Nagisa's glowing sapphire eyes widened in disbelief. This man was… Her grandfather?

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"I see… So the Kyūbi had… And now your older brother bears the burden, little one? Where is he?" Nagisa looked down, playing with the hem of her long sleeved high collared dark blue shirt. "Naruto-nii is back in Konoha. He had no idea of our Clan." And she regret not bringing him here, truly. She really wanted him to meet their grandfather as well. Though, the man sitting beside her looked very young to be one. He had no visible wrinkles on his aristocratic face. She noticed a few similarity of their face structures; the high cheekbones and slightly similar narrow jawline, and most importantly the shape of their eyes. They both have thin beautifully shaped eyebrows and an almond shaped eyes with an exotic upturned ends framed by thick lashes. Another thing that differed her from Naruto-nii. But she liked his eyes better. They were wide almond shaped, wider and brighter than hers. When she wanted to see the sky, she would stare at his cerulean orbs tirelessly.

"Truly?" Her grandfather sounded surprised, head turning to look at her. Sighing, she paid attention to the ANBU officers who were busy removing scrolls from the shelves to the storage scrolls they brought. They had been granted entrance to the secret archive earlier with the spirit's consent. It was not a very large place, but there were a lot of scrolls and books in here.

"Mmh… Hokage jii-chan said that our parentage is supposed to be a secret, since our parents are high-profiled shinobi. Though, I have my suspicions. So, when I stumbled upon the name of Shodaime-sama's wife and Uzushiogakure, I decided to do some more research." A muted sigh was heard from one of the black ops. "See? She's too clever. I bet she's going to find out who her father is soon, with or without Sandaime-sama's concern."

"Sacrilege! I thought Hiruzen would know better." The ghostly man beside her hissed in outrage. "How dare he, hiding my grandchildren's legacy from them?! We were once a proud Clan, renowned for our ability in sealing, though brought down by our enemy, we have dragged them with us to death! The least he could do is to tell you both and let you learn what many children of our clan once learned. If he's so afraid of outside threat, then there's no need for him to publicly announce it to the world." Uzumaki Akashi exhaled loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose in agitation.

There was no more sound of shuffling in the room as all of them stared at the angry spirit. "If I can go to Konoha right now…" He growled, crimson eyes flashing while Nagisa inched back nervously. "Now we know where that stare comes from nee, Nagisa-hime?" Shisui's voice floated into her ear as a large warm hand landed on her small shoulder. Akashi exhaled again, frowning as he eyed the raven masked ANBU who twitched slightly at 'the' stare as he dubbed it. "Judging from the way you addressed my granddaughter, it seems like you are familiar with her." Shisui's hand was removed from her shoulder.

"I am Uchiha Shisui. Nagisa-hime's older brother figure!" Shisui declared proudly. He had removed his mask and was staring straight at her grandfather who narrowed his eyes even more. "Uchiha… Haa, I suppose it could be worse. Fine, take care of my granddaughter AND grandson for me. Now, are you done?"

They were it seems, because the archive had been swept clean. She was rather unwilling to leave though.

"There's one last thing I would like you to take with you too, Nagisa. Wait here." Akashi commanded as he stood up, walking deeper into the archive. With him gone, Nagisa turned to look at the silent silver haired ANBU. "Inu-san." The addressed person tensed slightly, turning to look at her. "Can-" the nervous stumble seemed a bit uncharacteristic for her, but she had been uncharacteristic for the past week. "Can we spend some time together after this? I meant, if it's okay! Uh… I know you're busy and all but if it's too much to ask-" she cut herself off, licking her lips. "I just… want to talk." She finished lamely. Really? Where was her bravery? Her usual aloofness?

"Fine…" Inu answered with a soft sigh, and her eyes literally lit in happiness which made him a bit more comfortable. It was worth it if he could see her rare smiles. Now, as for Naruto… He supposed that boy too craved approval and acceptance from others. The two just have different ways to cope.

"Here." They swiveled their heads to look at the returning spirit, and following him was a floating carved wooden box which honestly baffled them. How did that thing even float?

'Do you want power?' Nagisa gasped as she clutched her head in shock, staring wide-eyed at the box. "The two of you have formed a connection, as I thought." The box was lowered to the ground, where all of them could see the carving of an Asian dragon wrapped around the mahogany box. With shaky hands, she reached forward to open the lid, staring at her grandfather for confirmation. The regal male merely nodded once, face set. She noticed the two other members of the black ops had moved closer before opening the lid.

"… This is…" There were no words to express what was in the box, glowing faintly in azure colour and pulsing with life.

"Nagisa, meet Shinryū. Our Clan's guardian." It was a nodachi, around 1.3 meter with a coiling golden dragon as its guard, a crimson red gem was clutched in the dragon's mouth. The handle itself was wrapped with a coiling azure dragon with its head as the pommel. A crimson tassel with two small bells at the end was tied to the dragon's neck. The blade was gleaming in silvery blue colour, its surface carved with several symbols she didn't understand. Laid beside the blade was the sheath which was just as beautiful. It was polished black with golden coiled scales wrapped around its tip, middle and top with another protruded dragon head and tail at the top. The same gem was clutched inside the dragon's mouth, this one blue instead of red. This was more like a ceremonial sword instead of a weapon!

"You can use him, as he has established a connection with you. However," the sharp tone made her flinched back. "You can only use him freely when your heart is unburdened. If not, then you must convince him to help you with your determination and will, Nagisa. Take note of this. If you do not… He will consume you." With that ominous warning, she doubted she would be using it anytime soon, or at all. Shisui laughed nervously. "Him? Uhh… You meant the sword, Uzumaki-sama?"

"No, not the sword itself. But rather, what resides inside."

'Child, do you want power?' The voice was clearer this time, and she could hear the echoing rumble in her mind. Reminding herself of what her grandfather had said, she closed the lid reverently. 'No… Not yet.' And took out a storage scroll she made by herself –under the Hokage's watchful eye- out of her pocket, sealing the box inside it and pocketing it back. For some reason, she could almost feel the heavy weight of the box.

"And this is where we part, for the time being. I still have not spoken with my grandson yet, nor have I given Hiruzen a piece of my mind. And I have enough chakra for all that." With that said, he turned to regard all of them thoughtfully. "I am a mere chakra imprint of my original self, it is possible for me to disappear for the time being and store myself into something until I am invoked once again. At least until the chakra runs out." He sighed, running a hand through his locks. "A gratitude for our large chakra reserve. I shall see you again, granddaughter." His figure shone briefly, compressing into a smaller cylindrical object that floated to her palm, revealing a scroll after the light died out.

"We're done here. Shall we go back then, hime?" Hebi inclined his head to the exit.

"Yes, thank you for all of this." Nagisa did a ninety-degree bow, rubbing her forehead and exhaling tiredly as she processed what had happened today.

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The journey back to Konoha was a quiet affair, if not a little tense for her as they travelled through the shinobi highway, un-intruded. It was there, an ominous feeling coiling in her gut. The uncomfortable feeling she had been dealing with for the past weeks. Something had happened, something bad. But what?! Not knowing made her anxious.

"Is there something wrong, Uzumaki-san? Did you sense something?" Boar questioned from the back of the group, probably noticing her distress as she had been staring at the trees listlessly. "Can we go faster? I don't feel that good… There's a bad feeling…"

_'Will you take care of Konoha for Shisui and I?'_

Why did she suddenly remember that?

"Are you sure, hime? We can reach Konoha in one and a half-day, but only if we don't stop for rest." For some reason, Hebi sounded a bit concerned for her. But… Anything to alleviate her worry.

"Please do so. Don't worry about me."

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One and a half-day later, as Hebi had said, they reached their hometown through ANBU entry route. She was terribly tired but persisted on seeing the Sandaime as soon as possible. The village felt weird to her, something her companions noticed as they sped through toward the large red tower in haste.

"Welcome back, all of you." Sarutobi Hiruzen greeted as soon as they entered the office. His face was grim and stressed, particularly when his gaze landed on Raven. Nagisa's grip on Shisui tightened. "While I would like to hear your report, there's more urgent matter I need to discuss with Uchiha Shisui. Go and rest, return tomorrow for the report."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Shisui removed his mask as soon as the others left. "Nagisa, can you leave the office for a moment?" Sandaime requested, or rather ordered which she didn't listen to. "Jii-chan, where is Itachi-kun?" If possible, the atmosphere in the room turned even tenser. The elder in the room sighed, looking older than usual.

"Nagisa. This is a private matter between Shisui and-"

"She is far more aware of the situation than she is supposed to, Hokage-sama. I think, if it pertains to Itachi, you should tell her as well." Sending a grateful look to a solemn Shisui, she continued to stare pleadingly at her grandfather figure, all the while praying to high heavens that nothing bad had happened to Itachi.

"Itachi had warned me regarding this." The Hokage sighed, "You will not reveal what you know regarding this particular knowledge to anyone, Nagisa. I would like you to keep it to yourself. That is an S-rank secret." Taking a deep breath, he stared right at the two of them with all the authority of a Kage.

"As of two days ago, Uchiha Itachi had massacred the whole Uchiha Clan, leaving only Uchiha Sasuke as the survivor. And as of now, with the confirmation of you being alive, there's only three Uchiha left. Uchiha Itachi, marked as traitor to the village, Uchiha Sasuke and yourself, Uchiha Shisui."

She felt her blood ran cold, frozen solid at the Sandaime's declaration. Itachi had- Oh Kami… Itachi… A choked sound came from her mouth as her legs gave out under her. "Itachi-kun…" She could feel it, something breaking inside her.

_So useless. I'm so sorry._

"I'm so sorry…" She whispered brokenly. "Itachi…" Someone had wrapped their arms around her, but she didn't even feel it anymore. Her eyes were unseeing, dripping with tears. "I'm so sorry…"

"Sssh… Nagisa-chan. There's nothing you can do." Burying her head on Shisui's shaking shoulder, she wept silently. "I'm so sorry…"

_So useless… So weak…_

She let herself go, clutching into Shisui's shirt like a lifeline as she wept for the loss of her precious person. She didn't even care that she could hardly take a breath as Shisui was clutching her so tightly against himself, as if she would disappear too. All she cared about was her own grief she shared with him, the painful sensation deeply rooted into her chest. It hurt so much.

"I am-"

"Ssh… Nagisa-chan, it is okay… Don't cry anymore, nee?" And if his voice shook or the fact that her shoulder where he buried his face against was damp, who cared?


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer : Naruto and its characters don't belong to me

Chapter** 6**

Naruto was worried.

His little sister has been gone for five days and to be honest, he was glad that she did when the news of the Uchiha massacre spread like a wildfire throughout the village. Jiji had assured him that she was safe and well taken care of, but he feared for her reaction if she heard Uchiha Itachi had turned traitor. He knew that they were close based on the few times he interacted with Itachi when she was around, and Naruto admitted that he was an okay person. But how could he do something like that? Just what would Nagisa say? How would she react for that matter?

Naruto sighed, grumbling under his breath as he propped his elbows on the desk and settled his chin on his palm. The class was horribly boring as usual, with Iruka-sensei reviewing the third shinobi world war where their famed Yondaime Hokage gained his most notable achievement. Shikamaru was asleep as usual and didn't seem to be waking up anytime soon. He contemplated on executing a prank, but his worry got the better of him.

"The destruction of Kannabi Bridge, which was a vital pathway to Iwagakure no sato's line of supply by Yondaime-sama's team, led at the time by jōnin, Hatake Kakashi, one of Yondaime-sama's pupil contributed greatly in turning the favour to Konoha- Hey, Naruto! Are you even listening? What's with that bored face? Jeez, you should pay more attention to the lesson if you want to be a good shinobi." Iruka-sensei sighed in exasperation.

"That's not fair, Iruka-sensei! What do we need that history for anyway? Nagi-chan told me that we aren't going to review history in the field!" Naruto protested, immediately pointing to Shikamaru who was face first on the desk behind him with a huff. "Besides, Shikamaru has been sleeping since the lesson started you know…" He mentally apologized to his friend as Iruka-sensei aimed a chalk at the pineapple haired boy, who lifted his head sluggishly with a large yawn. "You are troublesome, Naruto…"

"Really, the two of you. Nara Shikamaru, I knew you are smart, but that doesn't mean that you will be excused from-"

"Excuse us." Iruka paused in his tirade at the gentle voice and the sound of the door sliding open.

"Nagisa-chan!" Naruto scrambled up with a wide smile, halfway through the room when he noticed something wrong. "Nagisa-chan?" It was undoubtedly his sister, but… Naruto frowned, ignoring the curious buzzing of the class as he paid proper attention to the male accompanying Nagisa like a silent sentinel. He has short messy dark hair with square jawline and pale skin. His eye-lashes were well-defined, turning upwards at the end, framing his onyx black eyes. An Uchiha? Wasn't Sasuke the only one left?

The man was wearing an ANBU uniform, with his mask clipped to his side, his hand on Nagisa's shoulder. But what worried him the most was Nagisa's glazed look and her puffy eyes. She had been crying. The usual gleam in her eyes were gone, they remained dull as if she wasn't there mentally. A loose sob jolted Naruto back to reality as he hurriedly went over to his unresponsive twin, giving her a once over to see if there was something wrong with her physically. He wasn't allowed to go any closer though, as the ANBU officer had placed another hand on his shoulder, shaking his head lightly when Naruto regarded him.

"Umino Iruka-san. I apologize for taking your time, but can you please look after Nagisa-chan for a moment? Please make sure that she has her lunch later." At Iruka-sensei's solemn nod, albeit with a hint of curiosity and concern in his eyes, the man knelt before Nagisa and cupped her cheek gently. "Nagisa-chan, I will be gone for a moment to visit Sasuke. Be a good girl and listen to sensei, okay? Sandaime-sama will send someone to pick you up if I don't get you first. It's okay… Everything will be fine." The male nodded at Iruka-sensei before ruffling Naruto's hair. "Take care of your sister, young man. She had had a long day." Of course he would! Just who did he think he was?! Naruto nodded mutedly anyway, shooting Nagisa a worried look.

"Shisui-nii… Don't leave. Please." Her voice was weak and shaky, unlike her usual sure tone, and it broke his heart. Was this because of that Uchiha? Hot unpleasant anger surged through his being. How dare he made Nagisa-chan cry? "I am not leaving anywhere, Nagisa-chan. I will see you later, okay? Now see, you've made your brother worry."

After another round of assurance to the usually stoic girl, the man –Shisui- departed via shunsin, fading without a trace and earning round of 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the students. After Naruto made sure that his sister was sitting, he turned to Chouji. "Nee Chouji, do you have a box of juice?" He will be damned if he didn't take care of her properly.

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The day went on without any interruption after that. She felt guilty of ignoring her friends and Naruto-nii, but she was tired and spent emotionally. She had to drag herself up somehow. She had survived for years without Itachi, and it wasn't as if he died.

"Troublesome woman."

"Technically, Shika-kun… I am not yet a woman."

"Nagi-chan!" As expected, she was immediately smothered by Naruto's enthusiastic hugs. A faint tired smile made way to her lips. "Gomen, Nii-san, Shika-kun, Chouji-kun. I have worried you." She returned the affection, wrapping her arms around his torso, a little tighter than usual.

"It's alright, Nagisa-chan. You are okay now, right?" Chouji, bless his kind heart smiled at her. Shikamaru looked nonchalant, but she saw how his shoulder sagged slightly.

"Don't do that again, Nagi. Talk to me if you have any problem." Naruto scolded as he backed away, staring into her eyes. It was lunch time, and Iruka-sensei had made sure that she ate from the bento box some unknown masked ninja brought a few minutes after Shisui left. There were lots of rumours flying around regarding her unusual arrival that morning, including the hot topic of the Uchiha massacre. Surprisingly, Shisui-nii had a fair share of new fans from this morning. Apparently, he's quite good looking, rather masculine compared to Itachi's pretty face.

"I'm fine now. I am just a bit surprised. I never thought that he would… Yeah." Averting her eyes to the ground, she ran several pieces of information through her mind.

_'Protect Konoha'_

That was what both Itachi and Shisui wanted. They held the village dear, enough for Itachi to sacrifice his entire family. But, for Itachi to do something like that meant that there was no other way. She wasn't sure she would be able to do the same thing he did. No, she most certainly couldn't, and it made her respect and ached for him even more. A familiar chakra signature edging closer to their location made her blink in astonishment at the sheer speed.

"Hebi-san?" Something, or rather someone dropped down from the tree-line as soon as she uttered the name, startling several children nearby. The brown spiky hair was not that uncommon, but the mask and chakra signature distinguished him from others. "Hime." The operative greeted curtly. Why did he continue to call her 'hime'? "Sandaime-sama required your presence."

"Eh?" That fast?

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"Ah, there you are Nagisa-chan." Holding out a finger for a moment, she closed her eyes, gathering herself from the disorientating feeling of being shunshin'ed by Hebi who seemed to have disappeared right after delivering her.

"You called for me, Jii-chan?" Straightening herself, Nagisa took a deep breath, willing herself to keep a steady eye contact. "Yes. The problem was resolved very quickly, and I have received report from Inu regarding your excursion." Then, he was aware that a certain someone was displeased then? "Akashi was a dear friend of mine, Nagisa. While I don't recommend announcing Naruto's and your heritage, I think it is right for you to receive what was supposed to be your rights all along." Several storage scrolls were placed on the desk in front of her, ordered neatly.

"As you've probably known, Uzumaki Clan was a very prominent clan which excelled in fūinjutsu. The very same thing that made them feared throughout the great villages. You are currently learning the art itself, Nagisa-chan. And to help you, I'm going to give you your mother's scrolls on this particular subject." He paused, stroking his goatee for a few seconds. "However, I want you to be careful in this study like I have told you for several times. It is a delicate subject, and one simple mistake can be fatal."

She was aware of that fact for long. But why only her? "Jii-chan, how about Naruto-nii?" It might be a bit difficult, teaching him this subject due to his nature of not sitting still for long, but it was their shared heritage. It wasn't right to not include him in this.

"If you want to tell him, I have no objection, Nagisa-chan. However, I would like both of you to keep this matter quiet. And Naruto…" He sighed lowly for a moment. "If he's interested in studying fūinjutsu, then have him come here. I will trust you not to be reckless." He gave her a look which basically stated that if she made any blunder, he would probably banned her from studying fūinjutsu until she's a bit older –if she's still alive after committing a mistake, that is- A matter that could be negate if she was allowed one particular bunshin-no-jutsu.

"Fine."

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Fūinjutsu was an obscure and most dangerous branches of the shinobi arts to learn. You would need to do a lot of extensive research before attempting anything. While it didn't require physical training other than your hand movements, even a small mistake could prove to be fatal. Nagisa herself thought that fūinjutsu have a lot of potentials due to its flexibility. However, if you wanted to master this particular subject, copying something that has already existed would mean nothing more than being a copycat. And thus, if she wanted to master this, she would have to understand everything from the basic up.

The most important being the calligraphy and equation, along with basic understanding of chakra itself. Calligraphy must be mastered to the point where you could do it with your eyes closed, swift and fast. One stroke in the battlefield could determine yours and your allies' outcome. As for equation, understanding the concept of quantity, structures and spaces itself and then solving problems by determining which values of the variables presented make the equality itself true to find the solutions. This is the basis of seal arrays and mechanisms. The more complex the seal arrays and mechanisms were, the more complex the problems and amount of equations you had to use.

Lastly chakra, the seal arrays you've created would be nothing more than ink on paper if you didn't power it up with chakra. Chakra was the energy she could sense everywhere, even in the air itself. Each person, she noted had different chakra nature, especially in its density and molecular components. She found out why later, chakra natures or affinities. Each people has different nature, and while some may have the same, there were some subtle differences in the molecular level and density itself. When Jii-chan explained about the different affinities and its name, she began to question why each affinities were related to its namesake. For example, earth affinity was related to the earth. The answer was because this particular chakra nature was denser than the rest, and the closest explanation to this would be the earth or rock. If so, could you associate minerals like iron to it? Yes, we could. But it required the same density as the mineral in question.

The same reason in why lightning affinity could cut through earth affinity despite earth absorbing the electric current of the lightning itself. Because lightning affinity was sharp, very sharp. It was a trait shared by Wind affinity. Because the chakra conceived itself as 'sharp', it could cut through earth nature chakra despite its density. The reason it could produce lightning was because of the unique vibration of the chakra itself. The vibrations which could result in increasing speed and a numbing sensation. So, could natural lightning destroy earth based ninjutsu? She found her answer almost immediately. Yes, it could. All you have to do was infusing the lightning natured chakra and voila, you made the lightning into your own, by changing the components to match your own with your chakra.

"No, Naruto. That is not what you called correct strokes. See here, the lines are completely different. If you made even a single wrong stroke, it will be-"

"-dangerous. Yea… Yea… Old man, you have told me this for the hundred times! I got it already sheesh!"

Coincidentally, Naruto-nii has been told about their Uzumaki heritage and he was quite excited in learning fūinjutsu for pranks, apparently. But he didn't seem to have the patience nor fortitude in learning it. It was unfortunate that his mental capability wasn't mean for something like this either. It didn't mean that he was an idiot. In fact, Naruto was brilliant. But that brilliance shone brightly when he was under pressure or adrenaline. He could plan from the get go, and his analyzing ability climbed to proportions in that state. Meaning, he's a tactical field genius. All he needed was to learn to utilize it to the full extent, something she was still trying to drill into his thick skull. He was a scary opponent to have if he was taught correctly.

Nagisa inspected her hard work, humming under her breath as she scanned her neat brush strokes. An improvement from weeks ago. Her hands were no longer shaky, and she was making a nice progress. Ambidextrous was hard, because the way you wrote with one hand was different from the others, though she managed. Her hand eye coordination had improved as well, many thanks to Shisui –and Itachi. Sooner, she could attempt in making a storage scroll or increasing the weight of an object by her own. The weight seal would be useful for body building. Why buy something if you could make it?

That reminded her, she had to go grocery shopping later. It was high time to start learning how to cook. Naruto couldn't cook to save his life saved for ramen, and she was sick of eating said thing. On the other hand, she wasn't sure if Shisui could cook either. He was many things. A skilled Jōnin, a genius or if you went by his famed title, Shunshin no Shisui. A skilled cook however? She wasn't sure. So when he went and worry about Sasuke, she would worry about him. Good thing that she had mastered the henge-no-jutsu.

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Four attempts, three failures and one acceptable result.

Cooking was hard. No wonder most ninja didn't bother in this particular field of expertise. They were killing machines, not a housekeeper. But, the thought of eating home-cooked meals after grueling missions outside the village with nothing but ration bars exceeded her urge to just give up. She might not look like it, but she could be stubborn as a mule when she wanted. Back to cooking. She was nowhere near satisfied, but it would have to do. Who knows making a simple onigiri could be that hard?

Her first attempt ended up with a bowl of porridge, the second attempt ended up with crumbling rice that refused to take shape and the third attempt turn out to be too salty for her taste. Her fourth was okay. It took proper shape of an onigiri she had once shared with her Uchiha companions, still a bit salty but less so than their predecessors. Now to pack it up and give it to Shisui who was holing up in the hospital last time she heard.

The things she went through for her precious people.

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As she let her feet carried her to the hospital building, her mind wondered elsewhere. More particularly, to Shisui. He was Itachi's best friend and brother in all sense of the word. He was the adult in their odd group of three, the steadfast stone she secretly held on whenever she felt insecure. She wouldn't admitted it to him, but she knew that he was aware of it anyway. Itachi was the same. She could see their camaraderie, the way Itachi looked up to Shisui despite his stoic countenance. As if Shisui held all the solutions for all their problems with his bright optimism.

However, regardless of everything she believed, Shisui was still a teenager, a mere sixteen years old. With them being the only one who knew the truth besides the elder council, she could sense Shisui's self-loathing and guilt. He knew he was relied on by both her and Itachi, and he felt responsible for everything. It should be him who carried the burden, not Itachi. The fact that he was kept in the dark and shuffled away to be kept away safely, watching the village tearing his clan apart and his little brother painted as the traitor… She couldn't imagine what he was going through. Because she was different. Because if she was presented a choice between her village and her precious people, she would rather see the village burn.

Sasuke would wake up, viewing his elder brother with that dark light as the whole village did. A painful feeling seared through her chest. Itachi… No one would see him as a hero he was. He had saved Konoha, scorned, unacknowledged and despised. It made the feeling of disgust and hatred flared again. Something long forgotten. It died down as quick, leaving only exhaustion and resignation behind. She could do nothing.

The hospital staff watched her closely, as if she would do something as she made her way down the corridor towards the more private wing, flaring her chakra as she felt the familiar signatures of Boar and Inu to let them know of her arrival. They might have sensed her, but it didn't hurt to alert them of her coming. The two ANBU officers flared their chakra in a more subtle way than she had as an acknowledgement. So she continued on, bypassing the two stationed by the door with a muted greeting they returned with a nod.

The room was clean, spacious and airy, tucked away in privacy for the two Uchihas left. And Shisui's condition made her paused in mid greeting. It had been a few days, and she could honestly said that Shisui hadn't moved from where he was sitting for that exact amount of time. He had dark bags under his eyes, his skin was pale and he looked so disheveled. His lips were chapped and dry, letting her know that he hadn't been drinking any water either.

"Hey, Nagisa-chan…" his voice was hoarse and dry as he spoke without turning to look at her direction. His attention was still on the small figure laid on the bed and she grimaced. "Shisui." She whispered slowly, making her way to him silently. She understood that he was worried for Sasuke, and the thoughts plaguing his mind kept his mind occupied. But to not take care of himself? Unacceptable.

"Uchiha Shisui." Nagisa snapped with the best stern tone she could. It was not much, but she got his attention nonetheless. She almost flinched when she met the grim smile and tired eyes of Shisui. They were both too young for this. Heck, all of them including Itachi was. But she resolved herself. If he didn't take care of himself, then she will try. "You will eat, and then sleep." She held her hand up to stop him from saying anything. "Inu and Boar are outside. Kami forbid if you didn't rest, I will enlist Inu's help to knock you out."

The older male snorted, sending her a humourless smile before caving into her demand.

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A few days later, she was still learning how to cook. It was working wonders albeit with a few failures here and there whenever she tried something new. The choices of food she could prepare had increased. It was not perfect, but her effort had paid off at least. Cooking was simpler if she didn't think too much like she did. Just follow the direction if you were still learning. Both her diet and Naruto's now consisted of healthy meal instead of just ramen. He complained, but still ate the food she prepared regardless. He praised her and thanked her for the food, but she still knew that it wasn't as good as he had said. This only made her tried harder.

It was as if something had awakened within her. An urge to strive higher, to better herself. So she didn't have to feel the feeling of helplessness again. It was a feeling she despised. It gave her purpose. To grow stronger, better. And with that determination burning within, she threw herself into her study and training with new zeal that surprised both the Sandaime and Iruka-sensei, who knew her to be holding back in term of effort, as if she didn't know what to do, as if she was unsure and lost.

Well, not anymore. She has found her purpose, her goal. What she must do. And for that, she had to be stronger. Stronger than her enemies. She had her precious people to protect.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer : **I don't own Naruto and any of its character

**Chapter 7**

"Early graduation, Nagi-chan? Why?" Shisui was frowning slightly, tilting his cup while staring at his younger companion. He was of course, worried. Nagisa was young and if he was honest with himself, he would rather she stayed as a civilian than being involved in a life as a shinobi. "You know why, Shisui." She sipped her tea calmly, staring up at the sky absent-mindedly. He did, in fact.

The chatter amongst various students in the academy ground passed as a mere background for both of them. It was baffling when Sandaime-sama asked him to escort Nagisa to the academy for a test, but now he understood why. Shisui's eyes wandered to take in his younger companion's features. Young pale visage, sharp steely eyes tinted with weariness someone her age shouldn't have felt. Though that was so, he could always see her radiance, the same radiance Itachi might have seen. It's not because of her luscious blonde locks, however. It's something in her eyes. That faint glimmering light.

A light that was fading quicker than he was able to save.

"I promised myself I would look after you." He finally managed after a few seconds. "You have Sasuke to look after, Shisui. He needed it more than I do." He stayed silent. While she was right, it didn't change his standing. He would look after her like she did him.

As for Sasuke, they were not as close as they were used to anymore. Sasuke was not happy due to his decisions and the fact that he held no grudge towards the traitor. Nagisa didn't like Sasuke that much either due to various reasons. They understood that Sasuke couldn't be told of the truth. There was a reason that Itachi made him believed what he did. Not that he couldn't think of the reasons why his little cousin must be kept unaware.

"I will look after you." He reaffirmed solemnly, staring into her eyes to convey his resolve. Those deep ocean blue eyes softened and a small sincere smile graced her angelic face. "Shisui, thank you." He merely returned her smile, caressing her hair with care. He would never regret the day he was nosy enough to poke into Itachi's business to meet her. She was now dear to him as well, like he knew he was to her.

Many would be blind to think that she didn't care for anyone but herself or her brother. She was just lonely, and she hid many things behind her apathy. To gain her trust, you needed to trust her in return. "Come Nagi, we can bother Kakashi-senpai for lunch. I think he's free today."

If only Itachi was here as well.

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There were instances when she wondered whether if she could graduate as early as Itachi did if she worked herself to the ground like what she has been doing for the past year. It helped that she has a goal now, the very thing she lacked to instil that drive of determination to her study. That she had to master this in order to achieve something. And here she sat, the fruit of her labour, amongst children a few years her senior. She was proud to say that she was one of the best graduate, unofficially that was. Since overall scores were considered, and she was here only for the graduation test.

Sandaime-sama had been very reluctant when she wanted to take the graduation test. It took her weeks to convince him along with several arguments until he willingly conceded defeat. She also had to take several psychology tests in light of the Itachi incident as the council feared that another genius would snap. Not to her surprise, she didn't really breeze through the test. There were several issues, but she did pass in the end. The graduation test itself posed no challenge to her, not even the taijutsu part. She had utilized the fact that she was severely underestimated due to her age and went with it.

Her rapid improvement was the result of shadow clones usage. Something she managed to yet again weasel out of Shisui since she desperately needed it for some of her experiments in sealing arts much to his and the Hokage's horror. They did make her promise to limit her usage to ten clones for the maximum though. Nagisa wondered how her brother would have abused this certain technique. She doubted he could handle the sudden influx of information though. Perhaps he could if the information provided was within certain range of topic. Made it more diverse? There was possibility that he wouldn't be able to take it, not to mention the mental strain. On the other hand, if all the clones focused on was physical exercise to ingrain muscle memories or chakra exercises…

As she contemplated several more problem, she listened with an ear as the teacher congratulated them on passing the exam while announcing the results of who would be the rookies of the year. Upon hearing her request for an early graduation, the village elders had deemed it prudent to personally see –interrogated- her for some reason, and seeing for themselves just why she wanted to leave the academy so badly.

There was nothing more she could learn from the academy, shadow clones mean her reading capacity increased dramatically. While she left her clones for information gathering and fūinjutsu experiments, she decided to work with her physique to balance it out. She did note the silent approval from the elders when she mentioned her interest in fūinjutsu though. She had a rough idea on why. It was such a complex art that mastering it would take years of dedication.

In Konoha, the only one acknowledged as sealing master was Jiraiya of the Sannin whose student far surpassed him in said art. The Fourth Hokage was a well-known seal master that it resulted in his flee on sight order within the bingo book. So, the fact that she was interested in said art, was very proficient in it even at her young age and not to mention being an Uzumaki who had natural affinity in sealing seemed to please the elders very much. A seal master to replace the other, a very useful asset.

It was an uphill battle for her in that certain obscure branch of study though. The Uzumaki scrolls helped tremendously in her study. She had also discovered that the children started studying in a very early age and the study itself was brutal in her opinion. It was as if they studied only fūinjutsu alone with how much materials she had to cover until she reached the material she was supposed to study according to her age. And they wondered how Uzushio was full of seal masters. It was not an uncommon occurrence if she went to bed with a raging headache.

"Team 3, Akiyama Hokuto, Shibata Ken and Uzumaki Nagisa. Your teacher will be Miyazaki Seiji." The groan of dismay alerted her to her new teammates who seemed displeased to be paired with her. One was a fairly tall male for his age, with short messy black hair and deep purple eyes that was almost black. The other was brunette with longer hair that reached his neck and moss green eyes, a bit shorter than the first. She frowned briefly, there was nothing remarkable based on their appearance, in short they were both ordinary. But she would reserve her judgment for later.

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In the following year when Nagisa did look back to this day, she would admit that she had been entrusted to an incompetent teacher or in her words, a pathetic useless ignoramus cretin. As it was, she didn't know what to expect from her new instructor. Umino Iruka had been a good teacher despite the boring subject he seemed insistent to impart upon them, but she had no words for this Miyazaki Seiji. His appearance was not that striking, but you couldn't really judge a book by its cover. The fact that he was a jōnin cemented that fact even further.

Her new teacher stood at five feet seven inches give or take a few centimeters. He looked a few years older than Shisui who was already seventeen with sun-tanned skin and caramel brown eyes. His dark brown hair was cropped short, leaving two strands to frame his face, ending on his chin. Like most jōnin, he wore Konoha standard uniform with his hitai-ate tied on his forehead like she and her fellow teammates did.

Akiyama Hokuto-san was the one with raven black hair while Shibata Ken was the brunette. The two older children wore dark coloured clothing, with Akiyama in a black high collared long sleeved shirt with dark blue streaks on the shoulders to the arms and long black pants that he taped with bandage into the standard blue shinobi sandals and a weapon pouch strapped around his waist on his back. The other twelve year old wore a dark blue muscle shirt and a dark green open jacket with a lot of pockets and a black cargo pants. She assumed that he stored his weapons in those numerous pockets.

As for her, she opted for a long wide sleeved Qibao –a congratulation gift from the Hokage and Shisui- top to conceal the numerous seals she inscribed on her lower arm ranging from weight seals to storage seals, and a pure black shorts. The top was deep maroon in colour with gold buttons running down the front, delicate golden embroideries on the end of the sleeves and black linings and collar. She had the same sandal like the others, only black in colour instead and a black utility belt around her waist.

"Listen kids." Nagisa forced her body to remain still. She had a feeling that certain comment was solely or mostly aimed at her. "I don't care what the others told you, but I don't have time to bother testing you. So I will tell you this. If you three don't work together, you're as good as dead."

Silence…

Well, that was certainly informative and straight to the point. Teamwork? The traditional Konoha edict instilled from the Shodai's era. "Assemble tomorrow at training ground ten at nine sharp. Dismissed." She deadpanned at the space previously occupied by her teacher, suppressing the urge to let out a long suffering sigh before turning to her new teammates. Might as well finish this early.

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"What do you think Nagisa-chan?"

Staring at the Hokage, she couldn't help but remember the teacher who had dismissed her team a few hours ago. In the end, she had no choice but to be the first to extend her hand so to speak. Her teammates, while not that friendly has more or less tolerated her since they were stuck with her whether they wanted to or not. Surprisingly, she got along quite well with Akiyama-san due to their interest in kenjutsu.

"I don't mean any offense but… Jii-chan, shouldn't a teacher be more… you know…?" Shisui, who was busy entertaining Naruto dropped in his two cents. "You do realize that compare to your peers or even the year graduating class, you're on a different level don't you?"

"Yeah! Nagi-chan is so awesome!" Naruto, who had been a bit worried and slightly jealous that she would graduate before and not with him piped in. He didn't seem to begrudge her choice after they properly talked it out and she was grateful for it. She hoped that he would discover his true goal soon, a stronger goal he would properly dedicated himself to.

"Your only downside is that you are younger. But Nagisa-hime trained harder than everyone else, right?" Inclining her head at Shisui, she considered his words. She did train day in and day out now, with only moments for other daily necessities. If not physical training, then anyone could find her with a scroll or two on her hand completed with her notes. Sometimes, someone needed to drag her out of her study for social interaction or else she wouldn't even bother.

"Are you implying on self-study?"

"Well, Nagisa-chan… To be honest, all you lack is experience. For shinobis, experience is the best teacher. Who do you think taught me to be as I am right now? While there may be some help, not all the things I learned is from being taught by someone."

True enough. But then, what if she was stuck somewhere someday? Did they wiggle their way out by themselves, or was there someone who was always ready to help?

"You would understand one day, Nagisa-hime. For now just go on, okay?" Leaning her head tiredly on her brother's shoulder, she nodded quietly. No point in overthinking things.

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"You know, I'm starting to think that D-ranks are those left over jobs no one wanted to consider even doing." Ken muttered as he wiped his forehead for the umpteenth time that day. Hokuto was frowning as he was prone to do whenever they were doing D-rank missions. They were on their third week as a team now and was friendlier than the initial introduction and their teacher was currently sitting under a tree shade while they were slaving away under the sun, pulling weeds, fixing and painting fences.

"Anything is game as long as you keep that demon cat away from me." Hokuto finally replied, inspecting his work. Capture the demon cat Tora was a mission that popped out several years ago, traumatizing genin teams left to right and providing endless amusement to everyone who watched. She remembered this particular mission very well as she had assigned it to another team when she was younger, finding sadistic delight in their suffering. Now that she was subjected to it though… Her fingers twitched. What would happen if she 'incidentally' killed the cat?

"We can't be that picky, Hokuto-san. You know, if you want the luxury of choosing a D-rank mission, we have to finish this quickly right?" Pulling out a weed and throwing it on the growing pile behind her, she inspected the skin of her legs which was pink and felt a bit uncomfortable. Oh why couldn't she just got a tan like Nii-san did? Instead, she was subjected to a sunburn, something she seemed to have in common with her Uchiha friends. Though, she did ignore Shisui when he started spouting off about 'secrets of our skin-care', she was starting to regret it.

With another exasperated sigh, she started on another patch, her last one. "Are you going to finish soon Hokuto-san?" The dark haired boy hummed a confirmation, pausing for a few seconds to eye their other teammate. "We should help Ken after finishing our part. Shodai knows how slow he is."

"Hey!"

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"ENOUGH!" A loud voice originating from the Hokage tower startled birds perching close as they flew away. Nagisa managed her usual apathetic stare, the same expression her other teammate, Hokuto was undoubtedly wearing as well. It would seem that like her, Hokuto was more mature than his peers, or it could be that he was used to Ken's temperamental outburst. Probably the later more than the first. From the corner of her eye, she spotted an ANBU operative in a raven mask, shoulders shaking.

"…"

"We'd had enough of these… These waste of time missions!" It would seem that Ken was in his breaking point. Well, a month was good enough as any. Truthfully, some of the D-ranks were good workouts, not that she would admit it. Not to mention a good occasion to start bonding with the two she was virtually stranger with. Now that they had a month of suffering together, she did feel a sense of camaraderie with them. Hokuto was obviously the calmer between the two of them while Ken was the most eager one. She discovered that when they started trading training trips.

She'd ended up convincing them to train together whenever they have time then, just not as much as she'd have liked. Their teacher seemed very content on leaving them alone to her hands. And again, she'd a feeling that Miyazaki Seiji didn't like her that much and in return her companions suffered from it. All she could manage was to prepare them to the best of her abilities.

Miyazaki-sensei stayed silent, seemingly uncaring for Ken's outburst. But the way his body was leaning towards their direction said otherwise.

"Are you sure you're ready for a C-rank? What do you think, Nagisa-chan?"

"Eh?"

For a few seconds, an unnatural silence whirled about her mind. And the weight of the question suddenly slammed in, leaving her to wrestle in the urge to stagger.

'Are you ready to trust them?' She had to. There was no other choice.

A wave of disapproval and admonishment coursed through her like torrent of waterfall coming from one of her storage seals. _'Come now,'_ age old deep rumble like stone rolling against cliff walls echoed_ 'hatchling knows better.'_ It definitely has a funny way to communicate. Either by sending her images as if she would know the meaning immediately or sending her wave of emotions to express exactly what it meant. If it talked, it certainly talked, weirdly. But she digressed.

"I think we are." They were teammates, and as far as she was concerned, during missions they watched over her back and in return she watched over theirs. It didn't mean she would leave them behind, no. It just meant she gave them enough trust as a team and that's it. Something must have showed in her eyes for Sandaime to nod slightly.

"Very well, then. Do we have that border patrol mission or did the last team take it?"

She expertly ignored Ken's cheer or Hokuto's silent sigh and cheer that radiated subtly from his form in favour of the slight itch of dread trickling within her gut.

Great, the world seem to hate them already.

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"How long do we have to play patrol again?" Ken's voice broke the silence as they travelled by standard shinobi highway, the trees. Half a day had passed since they set off for their mission and she noted that her companions bar their teacher was getting tired. Understandable, since they were pushed to their maximum speed. Her stamina helped her greatly in that regard.

Hokuto sighed at Ken's question. "Did you even listen? We're to relieve Team 2 from duty. As for when our mission will be over? You will know when another relieve team comes."

Border patrol. In time of peace, this kind of missions weren't that dangerous for genin teams, what not with the amount of high ranking shinobi who were actually maintaining said border. There were a few ANBU squads placed within the location they were travelling to as well. However, if she considered the tension from the previous war between the two lands, or rather the two great villages, this could get very ugly.

Fire and Earth. Konoha and Iwa.

It would seem like Miyazaki-sensei was assigned another mission after they safely arrived and set a base. A heavy premonition settled within her before a soothing feeling was pushed onto her._ Safe, protected, warm, calm._

Nagisa didn't understand just what exactly made Shinryū dangerous. So far, it didn't do anything other than pestering or assuring her for some reason or another. She has been keeping it close for half a year and nothing had happened. Then again, she had never used it, yet. And hopefully, no reason to.

In front of them, the sole jōnin within the group came to a halt and held out an arm, eyeing the tiny clearing surrounded by trees. No, not a clearing but a larger gap than usual on the forest floor. Perfect for setting up a camp. Without preamble, she dropped down from the tree after a signal from the highest ranking shinobi present, scanning the parameter around the spot intently for sign of any human life. Finding none, she nodded to the rest of the team as they split for their assigned task while she kept vigilant.

Her assigned role in the team was somewhat of a sentinel and support, seeing that her speciality was in sealing and she was a good sensor. However, if by chance her team was ambushed and she, under any circumstances was unable to alert them, she was to act as their cover if Miyazaki-sensei wasn't around. It was a heavy responsibility. It meant sacrificing herself for them. But admittedly, amongst the three of them, she might be the one who had the most chance to get herself out of a sticky situation, technically.

Those training spars ought to be useful –even if her opponent was holding himself back, a lot-. But why her? Did she really have what it take to sacrifice herself for them? The answer was of course no. Exhaling loudly, Nagisa settled on a base of a tree, closing her eyes to concentrate on her surrounding instead.

For now, she would just settle on doing her assigned role.

"Uzumaki, first watch. Akiyama and Shibata, decide your turn, I'll take the last."

"Hai, sensei!"

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They hit the road early the next morning. Hokuto was surprisingly still groggy with the way he tottered a few times. They decided that it was better if they travelled by foot until they were awake enough after Ken almost introduced himself intimately with a tree. Cooking duty was officially delegated to her now as she could, in Hokuto's words made a mean stew. They had the traditional on-the-road breakfast involving ration bars though as they were in hurry of reaching their meeting point.

"You know, this is surprisingly nice." Blinking, her eyes briefly turned to her left where she spotted Hokuto by her, a small smile on his lips. "How so?"

"Being out of the village, travelling. Don't you think so, Nagisa-san?"

True enough she supposed. Truthfully, the idea of travelling and seeing the world was tempting. One of the perks of being shinobi perhaps. "It is… nice enough." However, they didn't have the luxury of travelling freely to other territories. Even your own home territory couldn't be that harmless. She wondered, if there was no shinobi, conflict or hatred that seemed to be the fuel what would become of this world. But it was not possible. They were humans after all. And humans were fickle, hypocritical and greedy. They wouldn't stop just because they have obtained what they wanted. If anything, it drove them into wanting more, to obtain and possess more than what they already have.

It was nearing noon when she sensed several chakra signatures, it was a group that was actually close to them. Judging from the chakra levels though, it most probably was Team 2. She told Miyazaki-sensei such and he agreed to check as they set off to find a location to set their camp.

Since they were to patrol a few miles of a specific area within the border, their camp had to be set at the back end of their patrol route and far away from the actual border itself. They had yet to decide the patrol schedule, but Miyazaki-sensei would be instructing them upon their return.

"So…" Securing the hair she styled into a tight bun to make sure it wouldn't fall off any moment, she paused. "Some more training?" The undercurrent of unease and general dread were still there. She had to prepare for worst case scenario sometimes. There were no guarantee that they wouldn't be split for later. "Alright, some more tips wouldn't hurt. Didn't you say something about supressing chakra yesterday, Nagisa-san?"

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Waiting had never been the most heart stopping experience for her. Or at least, it wasn't supposed to for her. She was patient after all. But it didn't stop from her feeling stressed and twitchy now as if something was out for her blood. Paranoia was ninja's most friendly survival guide no matter what the others said. It wasn't paranoia if they really were out to get you, and the universe seemed happy to thwart every single good thing she experienced. She had learned from it. While she wasn't that attached to her teammates yet, she was rather fond of their company for the sense of normality they wrought. As normal as they could be anyway. She had yet to experience the 'your team is like your family' moment, but it could happen if they were together long enough.

So far, everything had gone rather well, too well in fact. Miyazaki-sensei returned a few hours ago with their devised schedules, telling them to memorize everything before burning it. There was no need for it to fall into the wrong hands. She admired the sheer ingenuity of the rotations and routes scheduled though. It was different each and everytime with no discerning patterns. It would give a harder time for intruders to slip in.

They had decided that one of them would stay on guard duty at the camp while the other two patrols with different time intervals. So when one returned to rest, the guard relieve the other and they have time to rest ranging from an hour to three before being tagged out again. She had questioned sensei why they were patrolling the area individually. Wasn't it dangerous especially that they were genin? As it was, the border they were at had ANBU directly patrolling the borderline and was supposedly the safest area. The idea was so utterly ridiculous to her that she wondered whether they have become too complacent due to the peace. She was only slightly assured after she taught them chakra suppressing technique to help them hide, and the alarm seal she had given each of them.

The only problem was now getting to them in time were they too far away. Besides, she was like a blind sitting duck here and sensei was off to his secondary mission and was due to return in an hour. With that in mind, Nagisa eased into a lotus position to centre herself. Closing her eyes, she took a deep calming breath and expanded her sense further. It was like chakra exercise, but this time instead of focusing on the chakra inside your body and the path it took inside, you focused on the outside. Her range was wide, but not that wide that it could cover the whole area they were assigned. Of course, improving with practice was possible. But no matter what others said, she was only nine and could only go so far.

Strength was her main weakness, but she compensated with speed and her small body was an advantage she continued to use. Not to mention being underestimated. Again, there was only one chance of that. The enemy wouldn't make the same mistake twice, especially ninja.

An hour passed, and she was getting even twitchier than before. Something was screaming at her to do something, preferably to find someone who was 'safe'. An unfortunate situation considering those she deemed safe was possibly nowhere near she was. And again, there was nothing she could do.

Useless.

Sensei was supposed to be here already or soon. But there was no sign of him anywhere within her range. When she was about to throw orders away and search for someone, or anyone herself before she could go crazy, a familiar chakra signature was heading her way at the edge of her range. It was Ken and he was agitated if the way his chakra flared was of any indication. A heavy premonition settled and she tried to even her breath. No, Ken wasn't scheduled to return in two more hours. It was Hokuto's turn. But where was he? In the midst of her own mini panic attack, she didn't realize that she left out her concentration and instead focused on Ken, decreasing the range of her sensing gradually as she followed his signature.

Fifteen minutes later, a panicking and wide-eyed Ken stumbled from the tree lines as he dashed to her like his life depended on it. "Nagisa! We have to run! Hokuto is- Hokuto-"he was starting to babble incoherently while sending the trees terrified glances while trying to drag her away.

She felt her inside froze at the words, immediately throwing out her sense for anything out of ordinary when she sensed them.

Five of them, all at the very least jōnin level. "DUCK!" For good measure, she pulled Ken down with her as multitude throwing projectiles sailed over them where their head used to be before. Her brain immediately catalogued their situation even as she pulled a nearly catatonic Ken up by his arm, forcefully dragging him with her as she powered her feet with chakra and leapt into the trees behind them, pushing him forward with a hard shove. Thankfully, he was quick in righting himself.

Five jōnin, two genin. They were severely outclassed and outnumbered. And if Ken's words were to be considered, they already got Hokuto. Why? What was their objectives? They were nothing more than a snot nosed genin and could easily be evaded if they could steer far enough from her sense that was. They didn't want to take any chance then? Possible. And they were running now, which would not work given their opponents were faster.

"Ken!" She barked. The desperation must be enough to wake him up properly as he immediately turned to her slightly, steely determination in his eyes. "Listen, there were five of them, all at least jōnin level. I'm not going to lie to you but we can't outrun them."

How in the name of Amaterasu had it gone all wrong? It was supposed to be their first field mission to adjust to missions outside the village. When had it all gone wrong?

"Clever little girl." They stopped in a clearing, back to back with a kunai in their grasp. If she survived this, she decided that she would personally kill their sensei. Not only did he leave training them properly, but decided that leaving out mission protocols when this kind of situation arose was also a good idea. Was it her fault? A feeling of irritation and anger surged as she scanned the ninjas circling them. It was definitely not from her.

If the red uniform and brown vest wasn't telling enough, then the headband sold it. "Iwa." She hissed under her breath, feeling Ken stiffened even more. A cacophony of images and sound swum through her mind. Screams, the clanging of steels again steels and most of all, blood. A lot of them. _Murderer. Clan_. It wasn't time for that! They had no chance of survival here. But if they were going down, she gritted her teeth. She would be dragging at least one of them with her.

"This won't take long." One of them sneered.

"Don't play around. Finish them quickly." The moment her kunai made contact with a tantō she barely managed to block and parry away, she let her adrenaline guided her through her motion and her instincts to warn her of incoming danger all the while vaguely noting that not all of them were attacking. It was for naught though. They were playing with them. She was not strong enough, or fast enough and only a quick application of kawarimis were enough to ensure her continued survival.

She heard, more than felt the tell-tale sound of whistling wind behind her, turning just in time to block the blade aiming at her neck before kicking her attacker's gut which was blocked and then pivoted in the air for another blow aimed towards the side of the head. It connected, thankfully. Due to sheer luck of being underestimated. Since she used chakra in that one kick, he was thrown away far enough and seemed to be in no condition to join in the fray for another minute. That should at least gave him a concussion.

It was not to be however, when she turned just in time to catch her teammate's body that was hurled on her direction as she tumbled back due to the unexpected weight. "Ken!" She tried pushing at him so he would move at the very least, but froze when her hand made contact with warm sticky liquid.

Her eyes slowly slid down his torso, finding a deep laceration across his lower stomach literally threatening to spill out his- Her breath hitched. "Ken!" Sitting up, she scanned her friend's face all the while keeping her back to the tree-lines and an eye on the enemy nin who seemed content on watching her broke down.

"Nagisa…" He coughed, his pained filled eyes staring at her as if begging for something. "I don't…" He rasped, struggling to make out his words. "…die…"

"No, no you're not going to. Hang on, please. Sensei is coming." It was of course, a blatant lie seeing as she couldn't even sense anyone but them for a few miles. The Iwa-nin seemed amused though as one of them snorted. "Ah, don't bother. If you're talking about that sensei of yours, we killed him first." It struck something within her as she could feel her blood freezing in her veins. "And of course, you will be joining him soon." Something snapped.

A deep bone rage seeped through her like force of invading magma. Unconsciously, she sent a brief pulse of chakra to her right wrist, where she stored Shinryū. She didn't notice when the sword's hilt rested on her palm, didn't notice when she gripped it so tightly that the scales on the hilt bit into her skin. All she cared was Ken, who was staring at her with such a pleading expression mixed with agony.

"It…hurts…So much." He murmured as he choked on his own blood. "Please… Make it…go…" Made it go away. No… She knew, he wouldn't survive. He would die in less than thirty seconds. _Hate. Anger_. She didn't know why, or how she could. But she did nonetheless.

Sword poised, her blade bit into Ken's jugular, almost severing his head due to the unexpected sharp edge of the sword. He died, instantly. She felt numb, but the hand that held the sword was steady, as if the limb wasn't under her control anymore. Nagisa didn't know how long she was sitting there nor did she care. She was shocked. But her eyes vaguely caught movement from the enemy, seemingly moving towards her.

_'Protect hatchling._'

Then, a furious roar tore through the forefront of her mind, and the world went dark.


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer : **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

**Chapter 8**

The scent of bitter iron was heavy, so heavy that she could taste it in the back of her throat. She didn't bother opening her eyes to know that she was in a field of blood. The sticky substances of life clung to every single surface of her form. Wearily, she shifted minutely and sighed. So, just a month and the entire team was killed barred her? Not to mention she killed one with her own hand, no matter if she did it to spare him. With no idea how to feel about that certain tidbit of information, her attention shifted to the sword in her grip which hummed contentedly. Something was also purring in her mind, a feeling of smug vengeance radiating throughout her being.

Right, Iwa.

Considering this was the clan's guardian, there was no need to be surprised. Now that she was completely aware of Shinryū though, she finally understood what her grandfather told her regarding him. Not a sword, but a living breathing entity that became a sword? Or something like that. He –she wasn't calling that it- was surprisingly gentle, with no malice aimed towards her and was strongly protective. But he wasn't human. His thought process was different than a human's. That was what made him dangerous. Something trivial to him might as well drove her to madness, and he wouldn't know at all. He might as well kill Shisui if he thought the teenage adult was as much as a threat to her well-being. Or kami forbid, Itachi when she had no choice but to confront him openly.

If that was the only repercussion, it wasn't that bad to be honest. There might be other things she didn't know about. Perhaps exposure to long usage?

"Nnn…" Wincing at the uncomfortable feeling of dried blood on her skin, Nagisa finally opened her eyes.

Cerulean blue, dotted with fluffy white and emerald green edges greeted her vision. For some reason, she could make out every single individual detail of leaves within her range of sight. How long has it been? It was already morning. Then again, border patrol duty lasted for days. The lack of report from sensei should have alerted someone though. Wasn't he supposed to finish another mission? Given that he has yet to appear since yesterday eve, most likely he was just as dead as she was told.

Strange. She could feel nothing. No fear for how close she came to losing her life. No grief for her team and certainly nothing for her sensei. There was nothing. Only indifference. Was that normal? But people died all the time right? Perhaps it was shock. Perhaps.

Her eyes slid shut for the second time.

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The next she woke, it was to a slight disturbance within the tranquillity of the clearing, and it was already afternoon. Her eyes had yet to open, but it didn't prevent her right arm to lash out, sword gleaming under the light. Tight but gentle grip caught it, lowering her raised arm slowly.

"Oops… There's your answer to your question. Have you alerted the ANBU patrol?"

Konoha-nin?

"Of course I- Is that the Uzumaki girl? Oh kami, Hatake will make it rain blood!"

"Hatake? I'm assuming Shisui is going to raise hell as the opening before then." She found the incredulity in the tone somewhat hilarious. With some effort, she forced open her heavy lids, heaving a soft sigh of relieve when shadows shielded her from sunlight. At the same time, she re-established her net and immediately, a lot of chakra signatures were registered on her sense. Her cracked lips slowly parted-

"I'm not mentally prepared for a war with Iwa!"

"Wa…ter…"

"I'm worrying about war and you're worrying about wa- Oh… Oh, right. Here you go, kid."

Nagisa managed to send the ninja who managed to look sheepish a look as he assisted her to sit up, handing over a water canteen. A particular female caught her eye as she was dressed differently than the others. The hair reminded her of Shikamaru, though a bit off in colour and definitely wilder. The clothing though… Was that really allowed? It's just simply a mesh bodysuit, a skirt and an open coat. Said female whistled as she surveyed the entire field.

"Look at that, this brat has talent. This is no painless death."

"… It's too messy."

The other two stared at her as if she was insane. The woman merely grinned, turning to look at her with light brown pupil-less eyes. Oh… Nagisa recognized this woman somehow. If only because when the kunoichi was spotted amongst the villagers, a familiar stare and atmosphere was aimed towards her. She shifted, stabbing her sword to the ground to use as a leverage to lift herself to her feet.

"Oi, are you sure you're okay, kid?"

Narrowed glacier blue eyes were directed at one of the remaining two ninja, causing him to jolt in surprise. "I am unwounded." _Threat?_ 'No… They are allies.'

"Oh! That one is alive! Good girl! You left us one to question after all!" The lady was positively gleeful as she inspected an intact enemy nin sprawled under a tree, blissfully unconscious. What? Wasn't that one she downed with a kick? He was still alive? How in the world did he remain unconscious for that long? Was it her strange luck acting up again? Shinryū was wrenched off the ground as soon as she sensed approaching chakra signatures, the blade singing as it cut through the air sharply. An ear-piercing metallic clang rattled through her skull, followed by a harsh grinding sound, ending with a disturbing hiss of metal sliding against metal.

Wide crimson-black dotted eyes stared at deep icy blue.

Within moments, her body was lifted off the ground and cradled against someone's warmth. "Thank the Shodai, you're alright…" She sagged with relief, all tension leaving her when she recognized that voice. Safe, at last.

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Shisui was beside himself with worry as he skimmed through the tree tops, ahead of the ANBU squad, sharingan blazing in attempt to look for one Uzumaki Nagisa. When a report about the discovery of a dead ninja near the border was made, he was already itching to go and check on Nagisa's team. When the name of the dead ninja was mentioned though, Shisui took a deep calming breath…

'She's alright. Nagisa is smart, she'll be okay,'

Against enemy who could kill a jounin? The thought urged him to go faster. She better be alright or he swore he would hunt every single one who dared to lay a finger on her. Perhaps he would hand them over to Kakashi-senpai.

A flash of black in midst of green and brown caught his keen eye. Crimson eyes zoomed to the direction, followed by the rest of him soon after when he realized that it was a person. A small person. A very much alive small wounded person. He twitched upon seeing the face. It was one of Nagisa's teammates. The one who shared a spark with her in kenjutsu as he recalled. "Medi-"someone dropped beside him soundlessly, palm glowing green. Assured that the boy would be alright, he nodded to the trees and continued his trek.

One kid was alright despite the injury. All he had to do now was to find the other two. According to Sandaime, their patrol route was this area and therefore their camp should be close or further in. For now, just let her at least be alive. He could always surrender to his inner pyromaniac later if she was harmed in any way. Another twenty-five minutes of maddening trip through the vegetation later, he could see an opening to a clearing, with people milling about. He had spotted thrown projectiles not that far away on place where the trees were sparse, with what seem to be remains of camp.

Then he spotted it, that unmistakable golden shade of hair. Before he could even blink or say anything, his instinct screamed at him and he reacted by drawing the tantō strapped on his back just in time to block an incoming blade that strangely gleamed blue for a split second. The impact was quite strong due to the momentum of his drop, but the opposite blade didn't falter at all. On the contrary, a hairline crack formed on his blade within the impacted area, so he tilted his blade down for the other to slide off, his eyes finally focusing on an almost hysterical deep icy blue.

Letting his weapon dropped to the ground, he seized the small body before him, another clang signifying that she had dropped her sword in her shock. Without hesitation, he clutched the high-strung girl close to his chest, paying no heed to her blood-stained appearance and buried his nose into her hair. "Thank the Shodai, you're alright…" He breathed out shakily. The small body sagged, equally small trembling hand slithered between them to clutch at his shirt.

Nothing else mattered. She was here, she was alright. She was still breathing.


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer :** Naruto series and all its characters do not belong to me

Edited and Proofread by RawMaterial

**Chapter 9**

"That wound is far too clean have been inflicted by any weapon belonging an Iwa-nin."

Standing at attention on the right side of the semi-circular wooden desk in the Hokage office was Shisui, dressed in standard konoha Jounin uniform. His face looked like it was carved out of granite, his eyes staring sightlessly forward. Sarutobi Hiruzen was discretely glancing at the messy dark haired male, as if expecting the younger ninja to snap and attack someone –possibly the Iwa-nin they had in their _tender_ care- Since this meeting concerned Nagisa, it was easy to see that the younger man was high-strung, his back ramrod straight. And considering he was worried about this particular Uchiha, there'd be very few who could outrun him – much less a restrained prisoner. Still, if anyone actually did run, there was still the wrath of another ANBU captain to deal with, one that had far more experience and skill than Shisui in the art of tracking.

Currently, they were discussing the result of an autopsy belonging to one of Nagisa's deceased teammates. The thing that had stood out in the report was the blow that had cleanly separated the Genin's head from his body. The Sandaime didn't really want to even entertain the thought that Nagisa had turned against her allies any more than Shisui clearly did, but he had to scrutinize all possibilities when the safety of his village was threatened.

Although, judging from the gleam in that pupil-less brown eyes of the female T&amp;I officer standing at attention in front of his desk, she was just baiting Shisui. Hiruzen himself would normally use this chance to enjoy the view presented by the Kunoichi – subtly of course – didn't dare do so at this time.

Alternatively he let his eyes stray to the various spots on both his desk and the surrounding floor where paperwork had been stacked haphazardly in an effort to present an organized front. This freed his mind to weigh the pro and cons of rescuing them from the furious Uchiha -who would undoubtedly spontaneously combust in the near future, if the further narrowing of his eyes were of any indication- versus escaping through the set of wide open windows behind him.

Admittedly, when he had set Itachi on Nagisa in an effort to befriend the little girl, he'd had several motives in mind when authorizing that particular action. As much as he wanted to, he really couldn't use the excuse of setting them up because of their similarily high intelligences – there were a few children of Nagisa's age who could entertain her. He'd hoped that Itachi's influence would both keep Nagisa loyal to Konoha in the future – ties to only her brother weren't enough – as well as helping her develop her own prodigal potential.

Although he'd allowed her to travel to Uzushio despite her status (if only amongst those in the know) he'd done so with the village's best interest in mind, no matter how much he told himself otherwise. The wizened Hokage was pretty sure that Nagisa had caught this or she'd at least thought of it before she'd asked his permission.

What he didn't anticipate, however, was Itachi developing a protective streak over her, or that Uchiha Shisui of all people would be introduced to her. If he thought deeper about who Uzumaki Nagisa actually was though, he could draw enough similarities between her and Itachi that would allow for a bond to form between the two, despite the threat she posed. And even though he wasn't Itachi, Shisui had often been lauded to be of equal skill to his cousin – someone qualified to watch over and aid Nagisa's budding skills.

"What are you trying to imply?" Shisui's tone was frigid as he glared at the Kunoichi, as if he was silently willing for her to go up in flames.

Across from the Hokage, the Kunoichi smirked. "Oh, you know . . . The brat's death could be attributed to the girl easily enough if you consider the weapon she possessed and the condition the enemy forces were found in. Ooh, or how about we look at how the girl came out of it with nary a scratch?"

A burst of sharp killing intent – cool, refined and deadly – flooded the room and caused several ANBU to flicker into existence, their weapons pointed at Shisui. Hiruzen merely waved them out with a negligent flick of his hand as he resisted the urge to sigh and bury his head in his hands. He monitored the pair of Jounin – or Jounin and Special Jounin in this case – standing before him with caution. He was the Hokage, yes . . . But he had a feeling that Shisui's ire was not completely directed at the Iwa-nin alone, or the female across them.

"Do you truly believe what you're implying, Mitarashi-_san_?" Crimson eyes dotted with three tomoes flared to life, spinning lazily as his eyes narrowed. "I'd think very carefully about what you say next. Because now, it sounds as if you're implying a _Genin _managed to lie to me."

The woman in question raised her hands in mock surrender, palm facing outwards. Her smirk returned to her face as she slightly bared her teeth at her questioner.

"It's not my intention to question your abilities, _Shisui-kun_. People know that you're a shinobi of high calibre – one of our best. However, you do share a close relationship with the subject in question and I'm sure that many people would agree with me when I say that that relationship may have clouded your judgement."

Shisui's stare didn't falter as he took a step towards the Kunoichi. His killing intent was flooding the room and the Hokage could _feel _his urge to strangle the woman. "Wonderful, so instead of the Genin's loyalty, you're questioning _mine_."

The Hokage repressed a wince as Shisui took another step towards the Special Jounin. Shisui's loyalty to the village was well known and to question it in the lights of recent events . . . such an action was foolhardy at best.

"Enough, Anko." His tone brooked no argument as he ordered her to move the metaphorical torch she'd been holding away from the growing powder keg that was Uchiha Shisui. Anko muttered a soft 'Kay' as the pair stepped away from each other.

"Hn." The trademark Uchiha grunt echoed around the room as Anko stuck her tongue out, causing the Uchiha to glance away, pointedly ignoring her.

A soft knock caught their attention, and upon ascertaining the identity of the perpetrator, Shisui's eyes returned to his normal onyx black. "You may enter." The door swung open softly, revealing a man with a red sleeveless jacket over standard konoha-nin uniform completed with hand-guards. He had long ash blonde hair that he tied into a high ponytail and a pair of pupil-less blue eyes almost reminiscence of Naruto's own, just less vibrant. His face was considered stern especially with his prominent jawline. In his hand was a clipboard he was occasionally glancing at with a slight frown.

"How is it, Inoichi?"

The man cleared his throat and returned the Hokage's stare impassively. "I have the medical results regarding one Uzumaki Nagisa's current mental state." Inoichi paused slightly, only continuing once Hiruzen had given him the barest of nods. "I'll be blunt. We've a situation on our hands, one similar to what happened to Hatake Kakashi."

The raven haired male standing on Hiruzen's right stiffened, his jaw clenched. "That said," Inoichi continued, casting a curious gaze at the Uchiha. "The two are not completely similar. Her emotional attachment to her team is there, but only barely. On the other hand, she doesn't seem to have an attachment to her team's sensei at all."

The blue-eyed male glanced briefly down at his clipboard, lips pursed in thought. That was actually the good news. "On one hand, we're lucky that she only personally witnessed one of her teammate's demise. However, we have confirmed that it was by her hand that he was killed, although it seems like it was an act of mercy. I gather that she'll be more stable after we inform her of Akiyama Hokuto's survival." His clipboard dropped down to his side. "That's all."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully, dismissing Mitarashi Anko with a look before levelling the Yamanaka with his stare. "Now that we can speak personally… This is all off the record of course, but what do you think, Inoichi?"

"With all due respect, Hiruzen. As a shinobi of the leaf, I'll give that she's got a ton of potential, possibly the most of her generation. Even with your concern over what she may become in the future. However, that concern, as of now, is already a moot point."

The Yamanaka patriarch's stare hardened, his posture tense. "She's properly reigned in now."

Relieve flooded the village leader's mind at that statement, but it came with no small amount of guilt. Something he was unaware of had happened to change her mind. But whatever it was, Hiruzen knew it had been something drastic, something he wouldn't wish on her as a grandfather.

"However, as a father…" Inoichi's eyes fell to his feet, an almost resigned expression in his face. "I think we should withdraw her from the force. The potential for her current instability to morph into something we can't control…it's high, I'll admit. I fear she may never fit in with those of her age group though, especially the civilians. And according to what my daughter has said of the girl, she didn't even fit in before."

A slight shuffle caught the attention of the two elder males as they turned to face the perpetrator, only to find that Shisui had turned his back to them, an action that could either be taken as one of trust…or disdain. The man was stiff-backed, both hands clenched into fists at his sides, shaking slightly as if his previous urge to strangle Anko had been shifted to them.

"I hope this is what you had wished for, and that you are properly satisfied, Sandaime-sama." Shisui's usual tenor voice was deeper than usual, almost a growl. "I will not be surprised if the Yondaime comes back from beyond the grave to personally kill every single one of us."

With that delivered, Uchiha Shisui vanished without much as a whisper of sound, leaving only a temporary after-image and a few fluttering leaves. The Hokage didn't say anything, and he didn't particuraly mind either. Shisui had been on the verge of losing his self-control in light of the situation, it was better for him to be gone for the time being.

Sarutobi Hiruzen let his shoulders slump slightly in exhaustion and rested his forehead against the cool wood of his desk. So caught up as he was, he never noticed the distressed expression that had appeared on Inoichi's face. He didn't notice when Inoichi disappeared in a similar fashion to the Uchiha, either.

.

.

.

Red. The colour of blood. Why was there so much blood? Why couldn't she get it off of her?

Nagisa's mind flashed back to that scene in the clearing, when red had covered every surface that she could see. Crimson red had flowed freely, spilling from the broken bodies that had been scattered around – like a macabre art display. It really was such a haunting colour . . .

Perhaps, if she had listened to her feelings, none of this would have happened. Had it been fate? Or was the whole thing her fault? There was no such thing as a happy end that involved her, as far as she was concerned.

"_**Silly hatchling."**_

Silly? How was she being silly? Trouble seemed to flock to her in droves, no matter what she did.

"_**Only the strong and versatile will survive in our world.**__"_

Her dull eyes strayed to the barely perceivable mark that was inked on the inside of her wrist. The mark's edges were faintly glowing with a rich crimson.

"_**The fault does not lie with you, little dragon. You can't predict every single mishap, nor are you responsible for another's life. You should be concerned with yours and yours alone...**__"_

This was the first time she had heard him speak clearly. His voice reminded her of the times she had heard the crash of thunder. She could almost picture it within her own mind. A being of great power standing upon a sandy shore as it spoke with her. She could hear the crash of the waves; she could feel the warmth of the sand beneath her feet.

Her eyes slid shut as she let the images of her fantasy overcome her, washing away the field of red. When she opened her eyes once more, she no longer found herself propped up on her bed within that white-washed room. Instead, she found herself exactly where she had been imagining she was. What startled her the most, however, was the long, whiskered face right before her.

Her breath hitched as she held the gaze of the serpentine being that was hovering above her. The creature's azure scales glistened in the fading light as its body writhed in the air; its body was so long that she couldn't tell exactly where it ended. She could see splashes of other colours dotting its body – varying shades of rich blue and royal purple littered its body.

She couldn't help but shiver as its head leaned down before her, examining her as if _she _was the strange on here.

A single name floated through her mind: _Shinryū _

A primordial sort of power enveloped his whole being like calm waves, causing the air around the serpentine body to shimmer in a deceptive peaceful way. Unwittingly when she gazed upon its majesty, she thought of the ocean depth and the raging storm. There was beauty in both elements, but they were also devastatingly deadly.

"_**Very well done, little dragon**__."_ When it spoke, large waves crashed onto to coast and the sound of howling wind intensified.

The dragon's jaws didn't move, yet she could hear its voice clearly. How?

Shinryū then huffed, his warm breath spilling over her. She could see the amusement in his eyes.

"_**It is as simple as projecting a thought into your mind. It's a much simpler way of communicating. I greatly prefer it over verbally speaking, there's less of a chance of miscommunication**__."_ The dragon's already thin black pupils contracted to needle like slits as it tilted its head to the side, his eyes burrowing into her soul. _"__**However, I can see that will no longer work. Your thoughts are clouded, young one, and with something as trivial as guilt nonetheless**__."_

Wait…Guilt… was trivial? Surprise washed over her at this statement and she tilted her head in an impersonation of Shinryū's. This was something that had been haunting her mind since her…_accident_. It was hard for her to understand how any of what she was feeling could be considered 'Trivial'.

Shinryū's head reared back slightly as his face took on a thoughtful look. His serpentine body shifted as he writhed about. A moment later, he lowered his head and stared directly into her eyes. Blue met crimson as the two silently clashed against each other.

"_**There's nothing eternal in the universe. Not even the gods could claim to have performed such a feat. Death is a natural occurrence in life; just another part of the cycle all living things must go through. And as I have already stated: you are not responsible for anyone's life other than your own**__."_

Shinryū held her gaze as he spoke, his piercing eyes never straying, even as he finished his monologue. She could feel the air of expectation that he exuded, it hung in the air, a heavy cloud looming over the two. Other than the occasional crack of thunder overhead and the howl_ of_ the wind, silence dominated the beach.

"But, was I not responsible for my team's lives as our acting sentry? Looking at what happened, I would say I failed fairly miserably."

The entire situation was pathetic in her eyes. Despite all her hard work; despite her _prodigy_ status, she'd been completely outclassed during her mission. Her seals hand done nothing, and what few ninjutsu she knew had had no effect either.

The enemy Jounin had been so far above her… Nagisa allowed herself to wallow in self-depreciation for a moments before tightening her gaze and returning Shinryū's gaze. Her hands twisted together frantically in her lap and belayed her calm nature.

_"__**Do not forget, young one: Despite your mental maturity, you're still naught but a child. It seems to me as if both you and everyone around you has forgotten that. You're too young to have been introduced to the hunt – were you mine own hatchling, I would never have allowed you to stretch your wings as you are now."**_

Lightning flashed overhead, temporarily illuminating the darkened beach. Shinryū appeared much more menacing than he had previously; his lip curled upwards in a snarl as he glared at her.

_"__**I can see it in your eyes**__,"_ Shinryū's gaze softened as he saw the despair and pressure that bore down upon the young girl. _"__**You believe yourself to be weak."**_

_"__**It's a good thing if you're frustrated by the results that you've produced so far, young one. It means that you've fire within you. There's a large difference between having done your current best and being at your bodies absolute limit. So, I ask of you, Uzumaki Nagisa: Have you reached your limit? Is this your uttermost potential, the peak of your flight?**__"_

Of course she knew what her own limits were, how dare that damned dragon insinuate otherwise! She was weak! No matter what she did, she wouldn't be able – Nagisa froze and her head snapped up from where she'd dropped her head. A throaty hum came from the dragon, as if it was rewarding her realization.

_"__**Exactly. Limits are very real; there's only so much a mortal can do. However, very few mortals ever reach their true limits. Most remain frozen, paralyzed with the fear that emanates from their own minds. Just because you've reached your current limit, young one, does not mean that you cannot surpass it."**_

The tip of his snout came to rest against the side of her head, gently nuzzling her. His whip-like whiskers curled around her body, close, but not touch her either. Tentatively, she allowed herself to reach out and touch the side of his jaw, stroking its surprisingly smooth and sleek surface.

"You speak in riddles, Shinryū. Am I strong, or am I weak?"

The pitch of the wind racing across the beach rose from a low, keening howl into a high-pitched shriek at her statement. As if to emphasize the point, a bolt of light arced across the sky, leaving a jagged scar.

Shivering, Nagisa wrapped her arms around Shinryū and trusted him to shelter her from the encroaching storm.

_"__**You are weak, Hatchling, but that does not mean you will always be so. You're currently stagnating as you waver upon the edge. You must break free of the notion that what other's expect of you is important. It is only after you discover what you wish to fight for that you shall truly gain the power to fulfil your potential."**_

Every word that Shinryū uttered pierced her heart with a ruthless finality. She would have fallen over if it hadn't been for the coils that she rested against. Although the dragon's words hurt and played upon some of her deeper fears, she could not fault him for what he'd said – He'd laid her heart out for her to see, it wasn't his fault it hurt.

_"__**No human is inherently responsible for the life of another. It is only by choice that some assume that burden and it is the curse of that very burden that can cause so much pain to mortals. You can only honor the choices that the deceased have made and strive to live your life to the best of your abilities."**_

"T-That was very blunt…." She murmured meekly, averting her eyes from his all-knowing gaze. It took all of her willpower to prevent herself from squirming. "How do I know right from wrong though?"

_"__**There are no such things as right and wrong in our world. They are both just a figurative your kind use to justify their actions. Will you condemn the thieves who kill in their desperation to feed their families? If so, are you not equally in the wrong for depriving a family of their sole means of survival with a flimsy of an excuse as 'I don't know'?**__"_

The hand that had been slowly reaching around to touch the underside of Shinryū's jaw faltered at his question. She had no idea how to answer that. Just thinking about it caused her head to hurt. If there was no such thing as right and wrong, did that mean that there were no true villains or heroes? Or perhaps they were named either 'Hero' or 'Villain' depending on who you asked?

Finally, around them, the wind began to die down and become light, small breezes in comparison to the earlier hurricane that had ravaged the beach. The sound of the waves behind her gradually softened and the dark clouds overhead dispersed, allowing patches of sunlight to break through and illuminate the beach.

_"__**That is for you to decide, little one. Now, rest… You have earned it.**__"_

Nagisa allowed her body against Shinryū – no small feat given the amount of tension that coursed through her body. His scales were surprisingly comfortable. Satisfied with her position, she closed her eyes and allowed her consciousness to fade away.

Even as the world turned dark, she caught Shinryū's muttered words:

_"__**If it truly is you, the answer shall one day be clear before you**__."_

_._

_._

_._

Shadows had already covered the village of Konoha and many of its inhabitants were comfortable in the realm of dreams when a shadowy figure broke from cover and raced up the sides of Konoha Hospital. The man stopped at an open window on the hospital's second floor and slipped into the room of a certain golden-haired child.

In comparison, the man's own spiked hair was a dazzling silver. A black half-mask covered his mouth and nose while a slanted Hitai-ate covered the man's left eye. His sole remaining eye flickered around the hospital room as he landed soundlessly upon the tiled floor.

The room was incredibly bare: whitewashed walls that seemed to suck the life out of the room, a pair of chairs rested near the window sill, and a single desk stood opposite the occupied bed. The only splash of colour seemed to belong to the little girl resting on the bed, a pillow keeping her propped up to allow for easier circulation.

He had only heard recently about the incident from someone a few hours ago and had trouble resisting his urge to check on his sensei's legacy. Technically he was breaking the law by visiting the girl this late at night – nobody was supposed to be bothering the patients at this time. That didn't really bother him though, he'd never really concerned himself with the hospital rules – they were more like guidelines anyway.

Besides, he was fairly certain both his sensei and his sensei's wife would have risen from their graves to murder him if he _hadn't _checked up on her. He'd already missed so much of the twins' lives, he really didn't have much of an excuse anymore now that he no longer was in ANBU.

The man ambled soundlessly over to the girl's beside, a black gloved hand hesitantly reaching out to gently ruffle the sleeping girl's hair. He eye-smiled as he watched over the girl, checking her body for any signs of injury. A sense of relief filled him when he couldn't find any signs of lasting harm upon her and he thought back to the concern the Hokage had brought up to him earlier that day.

He sunk down into one of the chairs, his eye never leaving the sleeping girl. _She's attentive. Very attentive_, he mused, his hand coming up to cup his chin. _The way she notices things just isn't normal . . . in fact, the last person who showed similar traits…no, I don't think she'd ever do such a thing._

He was fairly sure that the sleeping girl would never go against Konoha. Well, he was sure she wouldn't as long as her brother was here. From what he'd observed, she loved her brother above all else while her brother seemed to love the village. That alone was a miracle, especially considering the way the twins had been treated all their lives.

Besides, it was harrowing for him to even consider that one of his sensei's children, one of the village's _Hokage's_ children would ever turn against them. The political fallout would be disastrous, and that was ignoring the damage that a prodigy of her calibre would cause. And if she convinced her brother to side with her…

A shiver coursed through his body, causing his shoulders to shake at that thought. He didn't even want to think about what he'd have to do if such an event came to pass. He wasn't sure he'd be able to keep living with himself if it did.

"Kakashi-san."

The quiet call snapped him out of his ruminations and caused his body to stiffen. Realizing his gaze had fallen to the floor, he lifted his head up and met the girl's eyes. He recognized the emotion that was hiding within her dull, blue eyes. It was an emotion that he was intimately familiar with, an emotion that gazed back at him from the mirror every morning – guilt.

The two sat in silence, his one eye meeting her two. There was no need for words between them, he understood what was running through the girl's head, and he could tell she knew he knew.

With a resigned sigh, he rose from his chair and moved slowly to her bedside. He was careful to not startle her. Stopping at her side, he bent down and drew her into a stiff embrace, an uncomfortable silence surrounding them. He wasn't exactly experienced in situations like this, but he was fairly certain his intentions had gotten across.

"He told me it wasn't my fault." The girl's voice trembled as she spoke, a far cry from the stiff, cold tone she normally used. Despite how much her old tone tended to creep him out, Kakashi would have greatly preferred to hear that, rather than how she was now.

Uzumaki Nagisa was many things, but emotionally unstable was _not _one of them. It was unnerving to be honest.

He was only guessing, but it seemed as if Shisui had reached the girl before him. He was glad that Shisui had already spoken to her though, it certainly saved him from having to do so. He just hummed in agreement, ruffling her hair once more before leaning back. He eye-smiled as she sent him a dark glare.

"Is it really not my fault that they died?" Nagisa's eyes were hidden behind the hair that had fallen across her face, but by the way her voice wavered and broke, he assumed that she was crying.

"Well…" His voice trailed off as he gazed down at her bowed head. "Currently you're just a cute, little Genin, so you're not really responsible for the lives of your team…not yet at least. That responsibility would belong to your Jōnin sensei. If you consider –"

Kakashi was interrupted by a muffled sob as Nagisa fell forward, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her head in his chest. Letting out a mental sigh, Kakashi awkwardly patted her head before continuing.

"The enemy force you and your team encountered was made up of no less than _five _Jōnin ranked enemies. That'd be difficult for a standard Jōnin-Chūnin team to survive, let alone a squad of Genin. What you did was nothing short of a miracle."

He recalled what Shisui had told him about the meeting he'd had with the Hokage and had to forcibly restrain the killing intent that threatened to leak from him. Such a situation should never have happened, especially to a Genin as important as Nagisa.

Oh, sure they made sure to preach about one's birth right didn't matter in Konoha's Shinobi Corps, but at the end of the day, _it did. _Clan heirs, people with unique skills (Kekkei Genkai's) and people related to VIPs were much more important than the others in the corps. The fact that something like this _had _happened meant heads were going to roll; somehow, somewhere.

"You know," Kakashi began, still stroking the head of the sobbing girl that clung to him. Her hair felt rough beneath his fingers, as if it hadn't been washed in several days.

"Everyone's so used to thinking of you as a genius that we tend to forget that you're still just a child. You may be mentally mature, but your body is still that of a child, you still have your limits."

She pulled away from him at the word 'limits', her tear-streaked face lighting up in recognition. He made a mental note to mention it to the Hokage later before he continued on, ignoring the damp spot on his flak jacket.

"You've just got to wait for your body to catch up to your mind, ne?" He said, beginning to push her back down onto her bed; she needed to rest. Nagisa, however, seemed to have a different idea as she once again leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"What do I need to do then? How can I get stronger?"

"Train."

Kakashi wasn't a cruel man – despite what others may say – he'd seen the ray of light in her eyes as she asked him that question. However, he knew that there are no short-cuts in their life and that it was better to nip any false hope in the bud – however much it may make her hate him at the moment.

Judging by the reports he'd been given to peruse, she already possessed a great deal of strength. What she seemed to lack was a way to apply that; hence why she needed to train.

"Maa, Nagisa-chan? Did you know that when you're assigned a Jōnin sensei, their responsibilities don't _just _include teaching? They're also responsible for the lives of those in their care. The same way that the border guards are responsible for keeping all of us safe…"

"As a Genin, you're not really all that responsible to what happens to your team – your Sensei is."

Blame was such an inane thing. People's energy would be much better served when being used to fix a problem, not deciding whose fault the problem was. Still…the fact that she was experiencing survivor's guilt just reassured him she wouldn't do anything to the village – as morbid of a way to be assured as it was.

The night of October Tenth briefly flickered to the forefront of his mind before he shoved it away. His own past had no place here.

He could feel her slump against him as the muscles in her shoulders relaxed and her ragged breathing slowed.

For someone who considered himself woefully inept at dealing with others, he considered the fact that he'd brought her some measure of comfort a personal success.

"But aren't we only responsible for our own lives? We've got to look out for ourselves because no one else will. Right Kakashi-san?"

"Tell me. What are you fighting for, Nagisa-chan?" Kakashi asked, placing one hand on the girl's shoulder to pull her shaking form away from his chest.

"Kakashi-san?" His grip tightened on her shoulder as he forced an eye-smile.

The girl was far too young to be experiencing something like this in his opinion – even if he was being hypocritical. Sitting there, shivering in the faint moonlight, she looked so small, so vulnerable, so fragile…

He took a deep, calming breath and closed his eye as he mulled over what to say. What would his sensei have done in this situation? He really was awful at dealing with children; actually, he was awful at dealing with people in general.

"Maa, I suppose you could put it that way," he whispered, almost hesitantly, afraid of sending the wrong message.

"However, to be a Shinobi means to walk side-by-side with death," He reached up and tapped the metal plate of his headband (eye-band?) "From the moment we put on these Hitai-ate, we leave behind our previous lives and enter a new world. A world in which the strong survive and the weak perish."

"It's because of this that we Shinobi live by a strict code of conduct. A code designed to maximize our short lives," He continued, noting how pale her face had become. What he was saying was harsh, but it was better for her to learn this now, rather than later when she was being lowered into the ground.

He then fixed his eye on Nagisa, pulling the bed's sheet up around her shoulders. Despite the fact that she was hanging onto his every word, she seemed to be shaking worse than ever. He sighed once more in his head, _see Sensei, I really can't take care of children…_

His eye hardened before softening as an unprecedented tone of warmth filled his voice. "It's because of this that those who breaks those rules are considered trash by others. However, those who abandon their comrades are considered worse than trash."

Kakashi then reached out and ruffled her hair one last time, hoping to convey all of his unspoken emotions in the simple gesture. "And Nagisa, despite what happened, you never abandoned your comrades."

"Now," he said, feeling utterly despicable for what he was about to do as he grasped his headband before flipping it up to reveal his left eye – he didn't really have any other choice though, she looked like death warmed over. His eyelid then opened, revealing a three-tomoed red eye that then spun to life, capturing the young girl's gaze.

"Sleep."

.

.

.

Naruto first noted that his sister had appeared fairly withdrawn lately – even more than was normal for her. Her deep melancholy seemed to have started after she returned from her first mission outside the village – she still wouldn't tell him about it, he wasn't a child!

Kunai gripped in hand, the wooden targets arrayed before him seemed to fade away as his mind wandered. Although his sister hadn't told him about her mission, he could tell something had changed about her. Even now as he watched her from the corner of his eyes, she seemed different.

Head tilted to the side, Nagisa's blank eyes stared up into the sky, as if searching for something among the dancing clouds. And although she appeared relaxed, he could see the tension in her shoulders as her hands gripped the bark of the tree branch she lounged on.

She'd been acting like this constantly lately; always getting distracted by seemingly random things. Even now, as he watched her lips purse, he could sense something ugly in his sister. He had no idea what it was, but he didn't like it.

That did it! He was going to find some way to get her to talk to him. Hmm…maybe if he tri-

"You've been staring at those targets for quite a while, Nii-san. Have you perhaps forgotten how your arms work?"

His sister's soft, airy tone snapped him out of his reverie and he shot her a half-hearted glare as he caught sight of the small twinkle of amusement in her eyes.

Huffing and briefly sticking out his tongue, he spun in place, thrusting his right foot forward as he'd been taught and launched the kunai he held at the centre of the three targets. The kunai gleamed as it left his hand, glinting in the mid-afternoon sun. Elation quickly turned to disappointment as he watched the knife lodge itself in the bottom half of the target.

The pair were training – or relaxing in Nagisa's case – out in their usual training spot, an area deep within the heart of the village that served to seclude the twins from prying eyes. Unlike him, who was covered in sweat as he trained, Nagisa was perched on a tree branch, one of legs drawn up to her chest while her other dangled down.

Today she wore a simple, white sundress, her headband nowhere to be found on her person. Her attire wasn't particuraly suited for training and many may have mistaken for her a simple civilian if not for the kunai pouch strapped to her right leg.

Naruto wasn't exactly sure why his sister continued to follow him out here as she just spent the majority of her time reading in the tree's shade, but he wasn't complaining, it was nice to simply spend time together.

Shoulders slumped, he turned around once more to glare at his sister, one finger pointed at her accusingly.

"You messed me up! You're an evil Imouto!"

Amusement briefly flashed through his sister's eyes once more as she raised an eyebrow at his accusation. Her hand then blurred and a muffled whistle split the air as something flew by his head followed by the sound of metal slamming into the target boards behind him.

Naruto couldn't help but gape as he spun around once more – he was getting dizzy – and saw what his sister had done. Not only had she thrown three kunai simultaneously into the centres of his three targets, but he had barely been able to see her move! That was even better than that Teme in his class!

"That was awesome, Nagi-chan!" he exclaimed, spinning around to grin at his sister. He then grabbed his head as a wave of dizziness washed over him. He really needed to stop spinning.

"Hn," his sister grunted in a way that was disturbingly similar to a certain someone in his academy class, "it wasn't good enough."

"What are you talking about Nagi-chan?! That was completely badass, and I would know, 'ttebayo!"

"Where did you even learn that word? And I've had a lot of help…" The amusement faded from Nagisa's eyes as they returned to their blank state as she stared at him and her hand once more rested upon her propped up knee.

"Eh-heh…"He absentmindedly rubbed the back of his head as he averted his gaze. She may have been the younger twin, but she could be scary.

A sigh floated through the clearing as a small, wry smile appeared on Nagisa's face before she turned away once more to gaze up at the heavens.

Silence dominated the clearing as hesitated a minute, unsure if his sister was really letting him off the hook that easily. Sensing that nothing more was to come from that conversation, he shrugged his shoulder before sliding into the basic Taijutsu stance taught at the academy.

For a while, the only sound that could be heard was his own rough breathing as he jerkily worked through his katas. He didn't know how long it had been before he heard a sound he was _very _familiar with and it seemed to be coming from where his Imouto was resting.

What reason did she have to be crying in the middle of the day?

Glancing up, he saw that she'd drawn her legs up to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs and had buried her head between her knees. Now that he was actively listening and watching for it, he could hear the muffled sobs that occasionally emanated from his sister. He could see that her entire body seemed to be trembling lightly.

"Ehh, Imouto, why are you crying?" His katas long since stopped, Naruto walked to the base of the tree and glanced up at his sister's shaking form. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't go comfort her – the tree had no low hanging branches and he had no idea _how _she'd managed to get up there.

"Go away, Naruto."

He swallowed at that. His sister rarely called him by his name, and when she did, he was usually in pretty big trouble. Still, Nagisa rarely cried and the fact that she was in the middle of the day for no reason was disturbing him. It was his duty to look after his little sister after all!

"No, Imouto. You're going to tell me what's wrong."

Naruto couldn't help but shiver as she stopped trembling and turned to glare at him with her reddened eyes. There was a silence between them – asides from Nagisa's occasional sniffles – before Nagisa grabbed the tree branch and swung herself down, landing with a muffled thump.

Um. He may have messed up. Naruto couldn't but help to think back to his academy class and draw connections between how his sister was acting and how the girl's in his class tended to react violently when like this.

Still…if it was for his sister. Closing his eyes, Naruto unconsciously tensed as his sister stalked towards him. Her bare feet made no sound and he couldn't sense where she was, his world shrouded in darkness as he waited for her punch.

"You're way too stubborn for your own good, Nii-san," Nagisa muttered, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder.

Well…he hadn't been expecting _that _reaction. Still, phase one of the 'Find out what's wrong with Imouto' plan complete! Now onto step two! Err, wait did his plan even have a step two? He couldn't remember now.

Resisting the urge to rub the back of his head once more, Naruto hugged his sister back before attempting to step away from her embrace. He mentally cursed as he found himself trapped. Damn, his sister was strong!

He then found himself released as she stepped backwards, using his jacket to wipe her face – aww, this was his favourite jacket. Oh well, they all looked the same anyways – before she slid down, resting her back against the smooth bark of the tree.

Hesitantly, he slid down next to her, their shoulders touching. She rested her head on his shoulder before speaking, her voice quiet and timid.

"I messed up, Nii-san. I messed up really badly."

"What happened?"

Although she made no sound and her head was bowed, he could still see the tears that dripped down her face. Reaching out once more, he hugged her tightly, pulling her into his chest. He wasn't really sure what to say, but he could let her know he was listening. She hadn't done anything _too _bad…right? Right?

"They're all dead… All of them, because I failed."

Naruto couldn't help but tighten his grip around her in shock. Well, he certainly wasn't expecting that. A quiet 'err' slipped out before he could help it and he was pretty sure his mouth was hanging open.

Nagisa squirmed out of his arms at that, an impassive mask sliding down over her face. She stared at him blankly as she hugged her knees.

"You know, Nagi-chan, Jiji once told me something about death," he said quietly, folding his arms as he stared back at her, "He once told me that when someone dies, that that was it. No 'game over', no second chances.

Still, he said that the best way we could honor them was to continue respecting their wishes and to honor their memories like they would want us to."

He couldn't help but smirk slightly at the stunned expression frozen on her face. Sure, he wasn't the most eloquent of people, but he could still parrot others! He then noticed that his sister still hadn't moved.

"Err, Nagi-chan, anybody home?" Naruto waved his hand in front of her face when she didn't move. He didn't break his sister…did he? He was pretty sure he couldn't get a new one, and he most certainly didn't want anyone besides Nagi-chan!

"Nii-san, is that actually you? When did you get so…so smart?" The stunned expression finally faded from Nagisa's face, but her eyes were still slightly widened and her mouth still hung open.

"I'm really not all that smart," he admitted sheepishly, rubbing his head as he averted his eyes, "It's like I told ya, Jiji's the one who said it, not me."

Well, at least she didn't seem to be crying anymore. Phase two of his 'Find out what's wrong with Imouto' plan complete! Wait…wasn't his plan finished? He'd already found out what was bothering her.

"Hey, Nii-san, do you think I'm foolish?" Nagisa made a vague gesture towards herself as she spoke, "This…this problem of mine has been bothering me ever since I got back, and yet, after listening to you for a mere few minutes I can't help but feel stupid…"

"You're not foolish, Nagi-chan! You're the smartest people I know!"

"The correct word is _person, _Nii-san, not people," A choked snicker escaped Nagisa as she corrected her brother. Scooting closer to him, she rested her head on his shoulder, hugging him tightly with one arm.

"Thanks, Nii-san," she whispered with a small sigh, "I may not get a second chance with my team… But now, now that I'm getting this chance to be here…it doesn't hurt as much."

Naruto mentally patted himself on the back as he smiled brightly at his sister, "No problem, Nagi-chan. After all, it's my duty as your wise, elder brother, dattebayo!"

"No! You're the stupid twin, Nii-san. I'm the one who's going to protect _you_."

"Aww…but Nagi-chan…"

"No buts! Now, where in Kami's name did you put my sandals?!"

_Yes, _Naruto thought as he listened to his sister rage at him, a mixture of fury and playfulness in her eyes, _this is enough for now. _He could still see the pain she tried to keep hidden from him and the rest of the world. He wasn't arrogant enough that he thought one talk would cure that, but for now it would have to do.

_Yes,_ he thought once more, smiling brightly and sticking his tongue out at his sister as a sandal flew across the clearing, barely missing his head, _this will just have to do._


End file.
